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Barlow said police are adapting to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The service is seeing a “significant increase” in calls related to burglaries and a slight increase in incidents related to domestic violence and unwanted guests. They are also increasing patrols, in partnership with bylaw officers, near transit stops and business communities.

“As we’re all aware, many, many things have changed,” he said.

“There are always going to be those situations where the calls are significant (and) unravelling quickly so, our officers, you may see them with their masks on, their PPE, their gloves, their glasses prior to attending the call.”

In Lethbridge, a man who may have been exposed to COVID-19 was charged with assault after allegedly coughing on a peace officer’s face. Barlow said he hasn’t received any complaints from his officers regarding a similar situation.

He noted, however, there was one incident where an officer was spat upon.

“In that situation, the person was charged with other offences as well,” said Barlow, adding they have procedures in place if someone were to be potentially exposed to COVID-19.

“We would have separated those officers and then taken them back to one of our district offices where we would have gone through a cleaning procedure for them and also their vehicle,” he explained. “This would include changing their clothes, wiping down their duty belts and any other equipment that may have been exposed.”