911 calls will continue to be Burnaby RCMP’s number 1 priority even if local Mounties get sick with COVID-19, says Burnaby’s top cop.
Responding to questions at a meeting of the city’s public safety committee Thursday, Chief Supt. Deanne Burleigh said her “primary concern” is local Mounties having to take 14 days off work if they contract the disease.
“That means I don’t have the resources for 14 days,” she said.
If and when that happens, Burleigh said the detachment’s response to calls will “remain on a priority basis.”
“The best way I can describe it is, if staffing at the detachment, if the membership are affected and having to stay home, units will collapse, so that we can remain on the front line, so that when the calls come in, 911 and so on, they will get the same priority response they get today,” Burleigh said. “We will never stop that. It’s a detachment, Lower Mainland, province, national response. We’re all in the same boat, but priority response will remain the same.”
As far as personal protective equipment for members, Burleigh said the detachment is well supplied.
“We are equipped for communicable diseases regardless of COVID-19,” she said. “We come across Hep-C, TB, HIV, more so – other than the hospitals – more so than anybody else in the general public, so we are equipped for all of that. We are prepared.”
Despite Burleigh’s reassurance the detachment is well equipped with personal protective equipment, however, the national union that represents RCMP members raised concerns Friday about shortages of nitrile gloves, approved face masks and even disinfectant across the country.
The National Police Federation also raised concerns about the decontamination supplies and the process around clothing, vehicles, offices and cell areas
The union also brought up questions about travel-related quarantines for members returning from vacation and cross-border residency and how members with kids would deal with school closures.
Finally, the union complained of “inconsistent messaging and support from management across the country.”
“The NPF is calling on RCMP management to keep Members and, by extension, the public safe during this extraordinary and rapidly-evolving situation,” NPF president Brian Sauvé stated in a press release. “This includes ensuring national, divisional, district and detachment emergency plans are put in place to properly manage both equipment and resources.”
The release noted that the union was engaging with RCMP senior management to ensure Mounties’ concerns are being taken seriously “and that the proper equipment is obtained and will be readily available over a potentially sustained period of time.”
