“The work of the police can never be interrupted, not even during a pandemic,” stresses Ms Magdalena Spólnicka, who leads the Biology Department at the Central Forensic Police Laboratory (CFLP) in Warsaw, Poland.
Since June, the CFLP has been mass testing police officers and civil employees for COVID-19, without needing to rely on external laboratories. The speed of their testing process has allowed policing in the country to continue uninterrupted during this critical time.
The WHO Country Office in Poland supported the initiative by providing diagnostic approaches and a framework for building safe working environments. They also drew experts together to offer support. Ms Spólnicka points in particular to the benefits of a WHO webinar which focused on the importance of effective communication and reaching out to the public.
“We realized that we needed to inform people that the police were getting tested and did not pose an additional threat, despite their day-to-day work dealing with a mix of people,” she explains. “It is important that people feel confident and comfortable with that.”
Solid protocols help in novel situations
In addition to widespread testing of individual officers and crime prevention groups, the CFLP’s work has also allowed police training courses to continue. All 5 training facilities across the country were able to re-open thanks to preventative measures, which included a screening procedure for all new recruits.
Dr Paloma Cuchí, WHO Representative in Poland, says she is very impressed with both the COVID-19 hazard response procedure manual and the testing procedure developed by the Polish police, noting in particular how “the standardization and systematization of their COVID-19 screening procedure will benefit others in the future”.
She stresses that, while there is never zero risk, “the testing procedure developed by the police is a solid protocol based on our current knowledge of the virus”.
Educating new recruits safely
Police academy recruits are screened twice, which promotes confidence in the system. If their first test is negative, they must still enter quarantine and attend courses virtually. A second negative test allows them to physically attend classes. Any positive results are referred to the health authorities, who work in parallel with the CFLP. Several COVID-19 outbreaks have been prevented in this way, after infected candidates were identified and told to isolate by the health authorities.
“The police headquarters came up with a solution which was workable without being expensive, using logistical and postal systems already in place in the regions,” explains Ms Spólnicka. She underlines that their COVID-19 screening procedure has therefore been introduced almost cost-free.
This new protocol avoids delays from affecting an essential service during a critical period, allowing a full policing service to operate across Poland during the pandemic. Dr Cuchí highlights the importance for WHO of working with the police, who play an important and varied role in the COVID-19 response. “The police undertake a very wide range of activities,” she says. “In many respects, these activities are in line with the goals of the World Health Organization.”
The CFLP is also part of a WHO-led solidarity network, which shares best practices between countries, for the benefit of society at large.