Staying home putting a damper on crime, accidents in Randolph County

If it feels like crime and accidents are down in Randolph County during the COVID-19 pandemic, your instincts are on target.

"Sure it has affected calls for service," said Randolph County Sheriff Shannon Wolff on Tuesday. "Businesses are closed and people are staying inside more, so there are fewer accidents."

Wolff said it is his observation that people are for the most part obeying the CDC guidelines about staying at home, and social distancing.

Of the usual types of calls the department gets, only domestic violence calls haven't abated, Wolff said. "We're still getting our fair share of those."

The pandemic has affected how law enforcement does its job, too.

"We're trying to handle more calls over the phone if possible, trying to limit our contact with the public as much as we can," Wolff said. "We also try to practice social distancing."

That's not always possible, and officers each have a full set of personal protective equipment - masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and even gowns.

Wolff would not disclose if any of his officers have tested positive for the coronavirus, but said so far, none of the inmates at the county jail in Pinckneyville have.

Everyone who comes in contact with an inmate wears full PPE, he added, including food delivery. The jail has temporarily suspended all visitors.

The sheriff praised the Randolph County Health Department for how proactive it is about getting information and guidelines out to his department and other county departments.

"Our health department has done a really good job keeping us informed," Wolff said. "They relay a lot of information through us and I distribute it to all the chiefs."

Wolff said his department deployed social distancing early on in the pandemic.

"As soon as the schools wrapped up we put (social distancing) in place. We didn't wait." he said.