HANCOCK COUNTY — One thing will not change with all the restrictions surrounding the novel coronavirus: crime-fighting. Law enforcement officials said it will be business as usual when it comes to enforcing the law.
Chief Jeff Rasche of the Greenfield Police Department met with Mayor Chuck Fewell and other city officials on Friday morning, March 13, and they determined their top priority is to continue to serve the community.
Hancock County recorded its first case of COVID-19 this week. A jailer at the Hancock County Jail was found to have been infected with the virus. He did not have contact with prisoners, but authorities for now will restrict prisoners’ movement to the Hancock County Courthouse for appearances. The situation raised questions about how new arrests should be handled, especially if cases are not being resolved because of continuances and the jail population balloons.
Rasche said officers will have the option to issue summonses as opposed to arresting people, if the officer feels the person is not a risk to the community.
That will help alleviate further crowding at the jail, which is already at capacity with 230 prisoners.
“If we have to arrest someone, we will,” Rasche said, “but if we come across someone we feel might not be a flight risk, we’ll just direct them to turn themselves in when they need to.”
The county courts are taking things on a case-by-case basis, said Marie Castetter, the judge in Hancock County Superior Court 1.
Castetter and probation chief Joshua Sipes sat in on a health webinar Friday provided by the Indiana Bar Association to see what types of recommendations they’re making for the courts on how to handle cases while protecting staff and lawyers as well as those entering the courts.
Castetter has created a document with suggestions on protocol for her courtroom on how the county courts might operate efficiently during the national emergency. Judge Dan Marshall of Hancock County Superior Court 2 was out of the state this week but is corresponding via email with the judges and is expected back Monday. That’s when all three of the county courts are expected to be unified in their approach.
“We have already allowed for a couple of continuances in cases where people don’t feel comfortable coming to the courts right now unless there are statutory deadlines,” Castetter said. “But, we have a duty to provide a safe workplace for our employees, and we have to balance all of that out.”
Castetter said she’s hopeful the courts will have a more unified detailed protocol in place by early next week.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton is on the same page as the law enforcement entities in the county, he said.
Eaton consulted with police agencies on Thursday, March 12, and determined no changes will be made.
“Arrests are not going to stop,” Eaton said. “We’re going to proceed to the greatest degree possible to where it is business as normal.”
Eaton noted some of his staff members have been faced with challenges due to school closings, but his office is pulling together as a team.
“We’re going to file cases, we’re going to go to court and we’re going to do what we need to do to keep Hancock County safe,” Eaton said.
Rasche said there has been some talk — although it is not being implemented yet — of allowing police to take some reports and complaints by phone to minimize exposure.
“We’re going to try and do all we can to get through this time period and every little bit helps,” Rasche said.
