As of Tuesday morning, the number of coronavirus cases in New York, a new epicenter of the pandemic, was doubling every three days. It had spread to homeless shelters and schools. More than 3,000 people had been hospitalized. And according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, members of the New York City Police Department will begin to enforce social distancing: “Our men and women of the NYPD will be out there spreading the message, telling people to break it up, move along, no lines tight together in a grocery store, no grocery stores full up,” he said during a Tuesday Fox & Friends appearance.

But inside the NYPD, officers are falling ill too. Many say the department is not following recommended protocols around sick leave and personal protective equipment (PPE), thereby putting their health at serious risk. Cops are “being thrown to the wolves,” one NYPD officer told me. “We don’t even have the right protective gear. They gave us a box of gloves and surgical masks that don’t stop the virus. We’re exposed.”

On March 22, according to an internal memo, there were 81 confirmed COVID-19 cases within the department. By Tuesday, according to a Fox News report, that number had risen to 211. “One guy had symptoms but was not tested because they’re only testing people with fevers,” said the NYPD officer. “By the time he got a fever, he [had] exposed his entire group to the virus: about 17 people. He tested positive for coronavirus. Now he’s out sick, and a couple other guys from his group are starting to show symptoms.” (The NYPD Deputy Commissioner’s office declined a detailed request for comment.)

As the New York Post reported earlier this month, NYPD transit chief Ed Delatorre tested positive for the coronavirus. An NYPD officer told me that, prior to Delatorre’s diagnosis, he visited his command and passed the virus onto several others. “They were told to continue working until they [got] a fever,” the officer said. “The NYPD got confirmation they tested positive, and instead of staying home and [being given] sick time, they were ordered back to work until their symptoms worsened.”

Currently, another police officer said, about 7% of the department is on sick leave. When that proportion reaches 16% “they’re talking about putting us on 12-hour-plus shifts,” which are typically enacted for emergencies like when Hurricane Sandy and 9/11 occurred. Several officers confirmed they are in limbo waiting to find out if and when 12-hour shifts will go into effect, though an NYPD press release stated that the organization is “not at the point where we are close to going to 12-hour tours.” The holdup allegedly has to do with money: If officers take on longer shifts, they will be eligible for overtime pay. “The city doesn’t want to pay and show it has the money,” a fellow NYPD officer said. “If they give it to us now in crisis it could become the norm, and the city doesn’t want that.”

Sources familiar with the situation said that, in addition to an allegedly lax attitude around exposure, there is also a shortage of protective equipment for officers to use in their line of work. A memo circulated on Sunday by the Sergeants Benevolent Association, a union that advocates on behalf of NYPD sergeants, noted that officers “will be asked to work up-close-and-personal with potentially contagious situations,” including enforcing quarantine measures, intervening in household disputes, and dealing with infected people or cadavers. In these situations, officers “have a right to expect personal protection in such situations: N95 mask, latex gloves, a disposable gown or aprons, goggles”; however, there’s hardly enough equipment to protect medical workers, let alone police.