The recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Hart County has made it more difficult and more dangerous for law enforcement officers.
In 2020, and so far in 2021, COVID-19 is the leading cause of death for law enforcement officers in the United States, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc.
In 2020, 241 of the 370 law enforcement deaths were due to COVID-19, while this year, 124 of the 233 were caused by COVID. This year in Georgia, 11 of the 16 deaths were attributed to the virus.
Thankfully, none of those deaths were in Hart County. Sheriff Mike Cleveland is taking extra precautions to protect his deputies.
“We are just using all precautions everybody else does,” Cleveland said. “Of course when somebody resists and you have to lay hands on them, all precautions go out the window. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Along with trying to keep their distance, deputies are also fumigating their cars after transporting a person.
“It’s just [totally] another way of doing things to what we are used to,” Cleveland said. “You have to adjust, that’s for sure.”
A big concern for Cleveland is to prevent the virus from spreading within the jail. Cleveland said they had housed an inmate for Hall County who tested positive for COVID. The jail had to release the inmate and fumigate the cells.
Cleveland said many of the protocols are similar to how they operated during the first spike last year, after relaxing over the summer.
“We are worse off now than we were on the first wave,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said they currently have three detention officers and two deputies with COVID.
Despite the struggles with pandemic, Cleveland said the deputies have been able to do good for the community.
“My folks do wonderful things every day,” Cleveland said.
Every deputy carries a dose of NARCAN, a nasal spray medication used for the treatment of opioid overdose. Recently, deputies have used the drug to “bring back” two people who were completely unresponsive, according to Cleveland.
“He was just gone. Not breathing, not responsive, just gone,” Cleveland said. “The beauty of the NARCAN is you don’t have to be breathing. It goes through your small capillary veins in your nose.”
Cleveland is glad that despite the precautions, his office is still able to serve the community and save lives.
“We’ve always been there to protect and to serve,” Cleveland said, “We’re still doing that. We are just having to do it more carefully now.”