What is going on at the 1st Precinct?

I have had no luck getting a straight answer — or any answer — on the number of officers absent or sick with the coronavirus at the 1st Precinct. On March 17, The Post reported that 31 officers were out sick at the precinct (out of 180) and one had a confirmed case of the coronavirus. On March 22, the NYPD’s press office told me that 73 members of the NYPD had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Now that number is at 1,400, according to the NYPD, with one in six — 5600 — officers out sick (there are 36,000 officers in the force), but the press office will not break it down by precinct. (Both F. and J. caught this scene on Hudson and Hubert, around the corner from the precinct.) Five members of the NYPD have died from the virus to date.

The NYPD has thousands of members working from home — both on the uniform and the civilian side (the department has 19,000 civilian members). But NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, in a 25-minute video posted to the department’s Facebook page yesterday, said they are not close to moving to 12-hour tours…yet. “We have the reserves, we have the contingency plans.” It also helps, he said, that no one is on the streets.

“Not only are we enforcing social distancing, we are still making gun arrests. We are still closing out homicides. In our spare time, we are delivering babies,” Shea said. “We are in good shape despite so many people going down with this sickness. We are in good shape because we have so many people pitching in. We have people from administrative positions, from detail, jumping into uniform. Being ready. A lot of moving parts here…Every day is a new challenge.”

 

 
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6 Comments

  1. Huge gathering of police at the park on 6th and Canal today at 5ish.

  2. I know not all heroes wear capes or bulge-accentuating tights, but where is Justin Theroux right now? Seriously, where? #WeNeedPPE!

  3. I wonder if they tested all NYPD officers, whether or not they were symptomatic. If not they should, this could possibly represent a larger study into what percentage of asymptomatic carriers we are dealing with as a whole.

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