Earlier this year, The Santa Rosa Police Department was issued $32,000 in fines by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal-OSHA. These fines were issued on the grounds of a series of health and safety violations that led to nine confirmed Coronavirus cases within the department, as well as the death of a veteran detective.

In a statement released by Cal-OSHA, they explain that, “The Santa Rosa Police Department failed to implement required screening and referral procedures for persons exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms during the month of March 2020, and failed to report to Cal-OSHA multiple serious illnesses suffered by employees who contracted COVID-19.” Specifically, SRPD was cited for not reporting cases in a timely manner, improper PPE, and failure to screen for illness regularly. There was also a claim that SRPD allowed symptomatic officers to return to work without requiring COVID-19 testing. 

KTVU news reported that the department claimed the citations, “Were based mainly on events in late February and March, ‘before information about the nature and extent of COVID-19’ was known.” The Sonoma County Health Officer’s Order that laid out safety protocols was not issued until March 31, and was not effective until April 1, according to KTVU. 

This means SRPD had very few guidelines on how to handle COVID in the workplace at the time of the detective’s death. This, however, does not account for the cases that followed the health officer’s order.

Santa Rosa Police Detective Marylou Armer, 43, died from the virus on March 31 after working for the department for 20 years. Cal-OSHA disclosed that she was exposed to a symptomatic colleague at work, and Cal-OSHA was not notified of her death until two weeks after the fact. According to the Press Democrat, “Armer was the first known California peace officer to have died from complications of the disease, and her loss marked a heart-wrenching and anxious period for Santa Rosa police.” 

Following her death, many of Armer’s colleagues proceeded to contract the virus, sending the department spiraling towards an outbreak. “In March and April, some police department employees with virus symptoms were allowed to go to work despite orders from state and county health officials that recommended employers tell such workers to stay home,” explained the statement released by Cal-OSHA regarding the fines issued for the SRPD. 

Police Chief Rainer Navarro explained that the department still needs to review the allegations suggested by Cal-OSHA before making any decisions regarding whether to appeal any of the fines or not. SRPD has 15 days from the time they received the citations to submit a review, according to the Press Democrat.

Seven other Bay Area workplaces faced Cal-OSHA fines for safety and health violations on September 22, but the SRPD was the largest of them all, the Press Democrat reported. SRPD was the only cited organization in Sonoma County.

There have been no positive cases at the SRPD since the initial nine reported in March, and Navarro stated, “This is something that we have not seen in over 100 years and this is really new to all of us, so we’re all learning. We’re putting our best foot forward.”