Far and wide, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted policies, activities and the way lives are lived day to day. This statement is no less true for Montgomery County, as attested by local law enforcement officers Sergeant Jake Watson of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Officce and Indiana Conservation Officer Blaine Gillan with the Department of Natural Resources. These public servants share how the pandemic has impacted the community and their law enforcement organizations.
One of the most difficult aspects of the pandemic is the constantly evolving landscape of available information.
“The biggest challenge probably was trying to keep up on everything ... getting updates daily on everything going on, Governor’s orders, the CDC guidelines, the Department of Health. It is so many different things at once … if you were a day late on getting to it, it was already a day old and there might have been something new out,” Gillan said.
The influx of information made communication a priority and necessity throughout the pandemic. However, increasing amounts of information was not the only facet of the job that saw an increase for law enforcement personnel. So did the risk factor.
“There have been several calls where we show up and the person says ‘Oh, just to let you know I have COVID’ or ‘Just to let you know my son had COVID last week.’ With our job we cannot not deal with the public so, that’s where limiting traffic stops and handling the calls we could over the phone helped some,” Watson said.
Mitigation of risk for exposure was at the forefront of emphasis with both departments. Meetings were conducted via Zoom and governmental guidelines implicating the use of masks and social distancing also helped decrease the daily risk seen by law enforcement officers.
Although the pandemic has taken its toll, not all of the outcomes have been completely negative. The pandemic gave the community an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, in Gillan’s eyes.
“A lot of people were off work and turkey season was coming right around the corner. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. There were probably more turkey hunters out last spring than I’ve ever seen or ever checked, more turkeys harvested in this county than there ever has been, so there were more people out in the outdoors,” he said.
The outdoors served as a way for people to get out of the house and relieve the pressure and stress forced upon so many as a result of the pandemic.
The utilization of nature is undeniably a good tool to deal with the COVID blues. Yet, the environment also felt the impact of the increased attendance Gillan said.
“At the state park they restricted access to the toilets just because of sanitation, same thing with drinking fountains ... and I don’t know that people really realized that before they got there, so on the trails that I walked you would find toilet paper in the middle of the trail where you would never normally find that. Same thing with the creek too. It is common for people to float down the creek and sink their beer cans.”
There was definitely an impact on the recourse from the increase in use, but as Gillan also pointed out where there is more foot traffic and people, there is bound to be more impact on the recourse regarding pollution.
Overall, both Gillan and Watson agreed that with the roll out of the vaccine the mood of the public is on an upswing and that the vaccine acts as a security blanket for many that gives them peace of mind. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines’ safety and efficacy ratings and easy access (at https://vaccine.coronavirus.in.gov/en-US/) are a real boost.
“Our local leaders have done a phenomenal job ... just the amount of planning that goes into everything,” Watson said.
High praise was given for local leaders across the county regarding the handling of the pandemic and the response to such a drastic change in the landscape of the local community as a whole.
Written by Robbie Esrael and Aaron Dowdle for the Journal Review.
