DESERTED: DOCUMENT NOW

Deserted: Document Now
By: George Beck, Ph.D

On March 25, 2020 when NYPD Detective Cedric Dixon was admitted into North Central Bronx Hospital with flu-like symptoms, the coronavirus was raging through the NYPD and support staff. 

Three days later Detective Dixon, 48, was dead from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. His coworkers described Detective Dixon, a 23-year veteran of the force assigned to the 32nd precinct in Harlem, as a great officer with a heart of gold, who went out of his way to help friends repair their broken electronics and technology.

As of this writing, over 6,700 officers are out sick— nearly 19% of the department—and the numbers keep climbing. Seven civilian employees have also died, and among the approximately 1800 infected officers are two chiefs and the deputy commissioner in charge of counterterrorism. As the coronavirus continues to decimate the ranks; the NYPD and many departments around our nation are on the verge of collapse. 

Officers and other first responders are asked to do what others will not. Being on the front lines, they do not have the comfort of quarantining to protect themselves and their families from a virus that is twice as contagious as the flu and spreads like wildfire during the dry season. They do not lockdown, sheltered in their homes, while the casualties pile outside their windows. 

Officers are out there risking their lives to stop the spread of this virus.  In these uncharted waters, they are enforcing social distancing orders and shutdowns, while handling the routine police workload, which includes arresting people and increased contacts with many civilians—many of whom have been exposed to the coronavirus. Also, several officers were targeted by lunatics with the virus who used their illness to assault the police. The rate of exposure in this unsafe battlefield environment is exponentially higher than the general public; yet, many departments are not adequately equipped to meet these grave demands. Many lack the required personal protective equipment and training to perform their job safely. 

Are officers expendable? Many agencies did not have adequate stockpiles of necessary supplies such as N95 masks, protective gowns, hand sanitizer, gloves, and disinfectant wipes. To assume a pandemic of this magnitude would not happen is negligence. Therefore, unprepared agencies saw their supplies evaporated within the first few days of the coronavirus outbreak.

Agencies frantically sought to create a stockpile to meet the demands, but it was too late. 

Officers sought to mitigate the dangers on their own, purchasing supplies out of their pocket, but it has become nearly impossible to privately buy hand sanitizer, an N95 mask, gloves, or even a bottle of Zinc vitamins. So while their departments have failed them, the workload continues, and they are placed at higher risk without the proper equipment or training.

Therefore, while working in this unsafe environment, an officer must document every interaction, especially those with known carriers of the coronavirus. Why? Because soldiers exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, burn pits during the wars in the Middle East, and toxic exposure during the recovery efforts of 9/11, and other negligent exposures, involved monumental health and legal battles in instituting safety protections and monetary compensation for victims and their survivors. The response efforts to the coronavirus pandemic have similarities that we cannot ignore.  Again, document everything.

Future generations of officers will learn valuable lessons from the illness and deaths of the officers who have gone before them like Det. Dixon, who died a hero on the frontlines serving and protecting the community he loved.  The Blue Magazine offers its most profound and sincere condolences to the family of Det. Dixon and the honorable men and women of the NYPD who are forced deeper into harm's way.  We will get through these challenging times, but the lessons learned will be higher than anyone expected.

Officer Dixon was not expendable. His life mattered. May he rest in peace.