Access to Sarnia’s police station changed when with the novel coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020.
Access to Sarnia’s police station changed when with the novel coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020.
What had been 24-7 access to the front desk for people looking for information, reporting crimes or attending for record checks was stopped and replaced with a phone in the vestibule to connect with the officer at the front desk, Const. Giovanni Sottosanti said.
Access to the building only followed if necessary, he said.
As of Monday, that unfettered public access to the lobby has been somewhat restored, he said.
The front doors at police headquarters will be unlocked Monday to Friday from 8 am to 8 pm, he said, while the phone connecting people to the front-desk officer will be available for after hours.
“Obviously, we’re really concerned about safety as well, but we’re realizing now that COVID has really, at least up until now, withdrawn itself,” Sottosanti said.
The move is “just to make it easier for the people to come in and speak to an officer.”
There have been times under the phone-access-only system there have been lineups outside the building, he said.
“It’s caused some inconvenience,” he said.
Addressing the policy had been one of the things on the to-do list for new Sarnia police Chief Derek Davis since he started in June.
“I don’t think there was any particular incident or anything that really forced it, other than the fact that they realized this should change,” Sottosanti said about police brass.
The change also means easier access to the collision reporting centre. Previously, people involved in minor crashes would before have to call a separate phone number to gain access from center officials.
“This way, they can actually go ahead, get in line and speak to the person at the (centre),” Sottosanti said.
Locking the doors into the evening and overnight will continue for safety reasons, he added.
“We just don’t want random people coming in – all of a sudden something out of our control starting to happen at the front desk area,” he said. “So there is a safety element to it as well.”
There’ve been no major incidents in the past, he said, “but obviously we’re a police station, so we have to be on alert all the time.”
People applying for police background checks are encouraged to visit sarniapolice.com/how-do-i/record-check to ensure quicker access, officials said in a press release.