Mount Pleasant Magazine Documenting Covid-19

77 www.CoronavirusMag.com | www.ReadMPM.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature A s the COVID-19 pandemic made its way through Mount Pleasant, the town took an innovative approach to police work, redirecting its law enforcement resources to make life a little more bearable and a lot safer for the people who call the fourth largest municipality in South Carolina home. Mount Pleasant’s men and women in blue played an especially important role for the town’s youngest, oldest and most vulnerable residents, providing security at local hospitals, helping to distribute much-needed meals and much-appreciated educational opportunities to local schoolchildren and checking on the town’s senior citizens on a regular basis. The Police Department was prepared well in advance to help at East Cooper Medical Center and Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital. The Department’s 16 school resource officers, who spent their time at local schools before the educational facilities were shut down because of the pandemic, were reassigned to help at the hospitals between the hours of 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily. “We knew something was on the horizon, so we met with our community partners,” Chief Carl Ritchie explained. “One of the things we discussed was how we could help them manage the situation. The hospitals have their own security guards, but they said they wanted police there also, in case there were so many patients that traffic and crowd control became an issue.” “They were there as a deterrent, just to make sure people were safe and to answer questions,” added Investigations Lt. Jennifer Backman, who supervised the SROs. “In our job, we are always looking forward so we are prepared.” The SROs also helped the Charleston County School District distribute lunches three days a week to kids who were no longer eating at school. Their job was to follow behind the buses that were delivering the necessary nourishment to a central location, but, when they realized that some children didn’t have transportation to the drop- off point, they took matters into their own hands. “With any plan, there’s often something that needs to be fixed,” Backman said. “If the meals were going BY BRIAN SHERMAN An Innovative Approach The Mount Pleasant Police Department’s Reaction to the Pandemic Many Mount Pleasant senior citizens have a Knox Box over their door that contains a key to the house. The box can be opened only by a fireman or police officer.