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Pequo� Lakes Police Monthly Report March 2020: During the month of March (15Y-305Y), the Pequot Lakes Police Department has a record of 204 calls for service. Call types include but are not limited to: • Animal Bite • Civil Problem • Disturbance • EMS • Harassing Communication • Information • Public Assist • Suicidal Person • Theft • Welfare Check During the month of March, there were no notable calls. As you all know,things changed dramatically for not only our city, state and country but the entire world during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the situation progressed,the city made the decision to close City Hall and the Police Department to the public on March, 20th. OfFicers continued with business as usual, fearlessly protecting the citizens of our community. When responding to calls, officers handled as much as they could over the phone to limit face to face contact. When faced with a call they had to physically respond to,they were equipped with PPE and kept a safe distance from others. Before sending officers to calls, dispatchers would advise if the complainant was exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus so that our responders remained as safe as possible. Under the Governor's Executive Order, officers were tasked with educating the public about social distancing and the shelter in place order, rather than aggressively enforcing it. We were very pleased with how our community embraced these difficult changes;the department only received a handful of complaints of people not following the Executive Order and officers were able to quickly diffuse the situations. The police department's Facebook page has been an essential tool to educate the public during this pandemic. All of the posts that were shared were well received and reached thousands of people. They were often positively commented on and shared. Not only did we create our own posts, we shared from other local police departments, as well as posts from the MN Department of Health, MN Department of Public Safety, IRS and Governor Tim Walz. We appreciate the city and state's support during these trying times. We are looking forward to the upcoming weeks and returning to a new sense of normalcy.