COVID-19 surge at LAPD and Sheriff’s Department keeps over 2,000 personnel at home
LA TimesLAPD Chief Michel Moore carries a flag to present to the partner of the department’s first sworn officer to die of COVID-19 in August 2020. More than 2,000 employees of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are at home sick or quarantining after testing positive for the coronavirus, officials said Wednesday. The new figures represent a massive increase from the 82 new cases among LAPD personnel during the week ending Christmas, and from fewer than 30 new cases per week as recently as a month ago. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had 874 personnel quarantined out of about 18,000 employees, with 618 sworn deputies among them. Early this month, LAPD Chief Michel Moore appeared with Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas to reassure residents that the agencies were still filling patrol shifts and responding to fires despite the increasing numbers of ill and quarantining officers, firefighters and paramedics in the city.