Morris County Sheriff's Office Implements Smart, Sensible Precautions Against COVID 19 At Correctional Facility And Courthouse
Published on March 17, 2020
The Morris County Sheriff's Office, which runs the County Correctional Facility and provides security for Superior Court and the County Administration and Records Building in Morristown, continues to upgrade multiple procedures to safeguard against possible transmission of the COVID 19 infection, also known as the Novel Coronavirus.
Morris County Sheriff's Officers prepare personal protection gear for fellow Officers to use during the outbreak of COVID 19.
The Sheriff's Office has been working exhaustively on management of this evolving health care crisis with the New Jersey Judiciary, Morris County Administrator John Bonanni and other county leaders to ensure that the public and employees are protected to the best of our abilities from COVID 19, Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon said.
Between Monday, March 16, and Friday, March 20, Superior Court in Morristown is closed for all in-person matters with the public, except for emergent matters. Please log on to https://www.njcourts.gov/ for detailed information and updates.
For the immediate future, while the buildings remain open, Morris County Sheriff's Officers will continue to man metal detectors in both the Front Entrance Lobby to the Morris County Courthouse and the Administration and Records Building Lobby and direct the public to accessible services.
Sheriff's Officers also assembled personal protection kits containing gloves, particulate respirator masks and sanitizing wipes for distribution to all Officers, though some Officers would typically carry the gear based upon their assignments.
Morris County Courthouse in Morristown.
Bureau of Law Enforcement Undersheriff Mark Spitzer, Chief Kelley Zienowicz and Chief Warrant Officer Richard A. Rose are in constant communication with Morris County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Director Jeffrey Paul and Morris County Police Chiefs Association President Thomas Williver. The Sheriff's Office will remain available to supplement individual Police Agencies should they become overburdened. In a mutual aid model, other Police Agencies have offered similar support to the Sheriff's Office.
At the Morris County Correctional Facility, Undersheriff Alan J. Robinson, Warden Christopher Klein and Captain Anthony Lotz also maintain constant communication with OEM Director Paul.
Undersheriff Robinson and Warden Klein have strengthened existing comprehensive protocols to shield inmates, sworn and non-sworn staff. As of Monday, none of the 241 inmates have the Coronavirus. The procedures, though not all-inclusive, provide:
- As of Monday, inmate visits with family members are temporarily suspended and will be reevaluated on March 30.
- An extensive cleaning schedule that enhances ordinary rigorous sanitation of the facility. It includes disinfection of all areas within all housing units every other day; daily disinfection of all generally-touched surfaces; daily disinfection and deep cleaning of the Medical Unit; availability of hand sanitizer to staff and permitted visitors.
- Inmates are permitted non-contact attorney visits through glass partitions. Other professional visitors will be vetted through a security captain and if approved, will be allowed a non-contact visit with an inmate through the glass partition.
- The Sheriff's Labor Assistance Program (SLAP) has been canceled for the immediate future.
- The Correctional Facility's Main Entrance Officer shall ask all professional visitors and lawyers whether they have traveled to China or other COVID 19 outbreak areas within the past 14 days, whether they have had close contact with a person under investigation for the infection, and whether they have symptoms of the virus.
- Continuing a protocol started on March 5, the healthcare provider conducting Nurse's Screening for all new admission inmates will ask the same travel and symptom questions presented to lawyers and professional visitors. If an inmate responds yes to any question, the healthcare provider shall notify custody staff to place the inmate in a cell by him or herself and call the Facility Physician to determine the next steps.
The Morris County Sheriff's Office Bureau of Law Enforcement, through Chief Zienowicz, also has implemented a detailed plan to manage staff assignments while reducing large working group environments. The Bureau of Law Enforcement oversees protection of the courthouse, Administration & Records Building and Probation Services in Dover, Warrants and Legal Services, and Special Services that include K-9, Evidence, Bomb Squad, Community Outreach and Planning, and the Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
Based upon their assignments, sworn Officers and non-sworn staff will either work split shifts, modified shifts, remotely if applicable, or in altered work groups.