Coronavirus-hit NYPD setting up DOA teams to collect corpses around the city: 'It's what we did after 9/11'
With the coronavirus pandemic showing little signs of slowing down in New York City, the police department have considered setting up dedicated ‘DOA (Dead on Arrival) Teams’ that would go around the city for collecting bodies of victims during the crisis. The New York Police Department (NYPD) would try to rope in officers for its DOA teams by offering the participants up to 60 hours of overtime for the demanding work per month — twice the amount it allows under normal conditions, according to the New York Post.
According to Johns Hopkins, NYC has so far seen deaths of over 1,374 people in the pandemic while the overall death toll in the country is 5,119. The US is also home to the most number of affected people — 216,515 — which is 23 percent of those hit worldwide.
The NY Post obtained an email that was sent to precinct detective units on Wednesday, April 1, in which the authorities sought volunteers to form citywide squads to collect the bodies that were seen as dead on arrival.
“The idea of creating a Borough DOA Team is being look [sic] at and we only want volunteers for it... no forcing anybody,” the message said. “It would be three teams (2 investigators per team).” The message also laid out the shift timings which is between 6 am and 2.30 pm and between 6 pm and 2.30 am. The third group would have more flexible hours, the message added.
While sources scoffed at the idea of linking the overtime with extra income, there were also people who spoke over the training and equipment required to carry out the challenging work.
Ed Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the cops need to be equipped with proper training and equipment before they involve themselves in what many call a grisly assignment.
“It’s what we did after 9/11,” Mullins said. “A lot of people got sick and a lot of them are dead. It’s part of our job with the proper training, with the proper equipment and with the proper protocol,” he added.
“To involve people who have no background in it is putting people’s lives in jeopardy,” Mullins said further. “Right now, every cop is working under hazardous conditions.”
A spokesperson of the NYPD said the department only contemplated creating the DOA Team and that the idea has just been “tabled”, the report added.
NYPD itself has been hit by the pandemic
The NYPD itself has been badly hit by the coronavirus and requires support to carry out its patroling job efficiently. Over 6,100 cops and department employees were sick as on April 1, making up nearly 17 percent of the city police force. Over 1,400 of them tested positive for COVID-19, official sources added.
Six deaths have also been reported from the virus in the department till April 1. Deputy Commissioner John Miller was also hit and was undergoing treatment.
Commissioner Dermot Shea told CNN on April 1 that the NYPD was still “climbing the hill”. “I’m eagerly awaiting when that inversion point happens where the number of people going out sick passes and crosses the people coming back,” he said.