Plainfield Police To Increase Presence Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

PLAINFIELD, IL - The Plainfield Police announced Saturday that they would be adjusting their normal protocols in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Starting this week, police in the area will be operating with increased street presence and with social distancing methods in mind. This means police may not approach local residents closer than six feet, and may be performing their duties with sanitary gear at hand.

Thus far no cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Will or Kendall Counties, or in the Plainfield, Valley View or Oswego school districts. The police, along with other institutions like the Plainfield Fire Protection District and the village government, said they would like to keep it that way.

To that end, the police said that the village is operating on a 'planned-tier approach,' to virus containment procedure, with plans for both normal operations and situations that necessitate interruptions to public services. At the moment, only minor changes to village policy and poling protocol are in effect.

Here is the full transcript of the Plainfield PD's announcement of those changes, as first released Saturday morning:

Plainfield, Illinois - We would like to provide an update on the Village’s response to the COVID19 crisis. First and foremost, as of the writing of this social media post there are no known confirmed cases of COVID19 in either Will or Kendall Counties, or the Plainfield or Oswego Schools Districts.

We have been monitoring the situation since well before it became a National Emergency. Approximately two weeks ago, we had an initial meeting with many of the stakeholders in the Village including members of the Village’s Crisis Management Team, representatives from the Plainfield and Oswego Fire Protection District’s, members of the Plainfield and Oswego School Districts, Plainfield Library District, Plainfield and Oswegoland Park Districts, and others. Since that time, this group has met regularly based on changes in the status of the crisis, or changes in response protocols.

The Village is currently working on a planned tiered approach to this crisis, ranging from normal operations to a significant interruption of Village services. Currently, the Village is operating normally with some minor adjustments such as the use of social distancing to reduce person to person contact.

Within the Plainfield Police Department, and Plainfield Emergency Management Agency, we would like to STRONGLY EMPHASIZE, that we remain ready to respond to any call for service or situation that may develop within the Village. We also remain in constant contact with our mutual aid partners, in the police, fire, and emergency management disciplines.

Some of the visible changes the public will see immediately within the Police Department include:

• All sworn police personnel, including Detectives, School Resource Officers, and others will be working in full police uniform with Plainfield Police identification.

• Effective Tuesday (when school is no longer is session), all School Resource Officers (SROs) and DARE officers will be assigned to the Patrol Division, so the public will see an increased presence in and around retail stores and neighborhoods.
• Emergency response personnel will be utilizing social distancing (typically trying to remain six (6) feet away from any other person). So please don’t be upset if a member of the Police Department or EMA will not shake your hand or stands a distance away from you during an encounter.
• Emergency responders may don some Personal Protective Equipment (face mask, gloves, goggles, etc.) if they go into an environment where an illness may be present or is unknown.

Again, we want to assure all residents and visitors to the Village of Plainfield that we are OPEN FOR BUSINESS, we continue to meet with all stakeholders, are taking all necessary protective measures, planning for any changes in the COVID-19 status, and are here to serve our community as we do every day.

If changes in the situation do occur, we will send out notices to any changes in operations, protocols, or responses as soon as possible.

Thank you all for remaining calm during this crisis, looking out for, and working with your neighbors (especially the elderly) to get through this together, and utilizing best sanitary practices.

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