FLORHAM PARK — A message from Joseph Orlando, Florham Park Chief of Police:
I’m sure many of you, like me, have been tuned into the events surrounding the Coronavirus on television and through other media sources. The President of the United States has encouraged a Stay-At-Home order until April 30 believing a return to normalcy prior to that could reignite a secondary outbreak of this virus.
I would again like to echo my sentiments from Friday night’s post, this is not going to come to end quickly. We as a community must be prepared to endure the length of this virus as we will inevitably return to normalcy, hopefully with the least amount of negative impact on our population possible.
I have received reports that some, whether residents of our community or visitors coming to shop in our center district, have irresponsibly been discarding gloves and face masks in the parking lots of those establishments. Know that discarding potentially infected personal protective equipment (PPE) haphazardly can release the virus in the air and infect other persons. I will be instructing members of the Police Department to aggressively enforce the littering ordinances against any individual discarding PPE in this fashion. It is grossly irresponsible and negligent behavior.
Our officers and volunteer First Aid Squad members have been responding to increased numbers of service calls for medical related issues. Several of these calls are non-emergent and centered around peoples fear and anxiety of the virus. Please visit the CDC website or Covid.nj.gov for details on what is considered Coronavirus symptomatic.
Lastly, in the days ahead you may observe members of the DPW in our parks and recreation facilities working to prepare them for future use. This does not mean the parks or recreation facilities are open. Parks and recreation facilities are mandated to be closed by the Governor’s Executive Orders as well the Morris County Office of Emergency Management Emergency Declaration. The work is being done to simply prepare those areas for the public’s use when we recover from this current situation.
Wishing everyone and their families to be safe and well.
Regards,
Joseph Orlando
Chief of Police
3/29/2020
