The Houston Police Department announced Saturday night it was implementing several precautionary measures amid the COVID-19 outbreak in some parts of the country.
There are no positive reports known in Texas County.
Here is the statement from Police Chief Tim Ceplina:
In the best interest of the health and safety of our community, the Houston Police Department is implementing the following precautionary measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures are in response to the existence of the State of Emergency that exists on the Local, State and National level as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recommendations of the CDC.
Effective immediately, Houston Police will be scaling back on responding to routine medical calls. The police will also take all non-emergency calls for service over the phone, including but not limited to:
• Animal Complaints
• Delayed Accident Reports
• Private Property Auto Accidents with No Injuries
• Fraud
• Phone/Social Media Harassment
• Non-Violent Juvenile Matters
• Miscellaneous Ordinance Violations
• Violations Not In Progress such as Peace Disturbance,
Property Damage and Theft
• Other Non-Emergency Calls
Houston Police Officers will still be on patrol and will still respond to calls that are emergencies. While doing so, we will attempt to respect the social distance recommendations made by health officials. If we respond to your residence, our officers or dispatch will ask that you meet officers outside and maintain a 6 foot minimum distance. This effort is intended to limit officer exposure to potentially infected persons as much as possible, while still providing police services and maintaining a healthy police force.
Instead of coming to the police station to report any issues, we ask that people contact dispatch first at 417-967-5999 to request an officer contact them by telephone. As always, in the event of an emergency, please call 911.
Our services will continue and we will provide our citizens with the best services possible as we work through this difficult time in our country. Thank you for understanding and for doing your part to help us prevent COVID-19 in our community by practicing social distancing and limiting in-person contact as much as possible.