The number of Detroit police officers who are off duty and quarantined is remarkable.

As of Friday, 468 of the departments’ 2,200 officers, more than 20% of the force, were under quarantine due to having close contact with someone who contracted COVID-19 or because they were showing symptoms themselves. Another 39 officers were off-duty after testing positive for the coronavirus, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Friday.

Even Detroit Police Chief James Craig contracted the virus. Three Detroit-based law enforcement employees, Detroit Police Capt. Jonathan Parnell, a 38-year-old Detroit police 911 dispatcher and Commander Donafay Collins of the neighboring Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, all died this week after testing positive.

While the outbreak inside Detroit Police Department may be the most widespread, and so far, the most deadly, the issue of coronavirus staffing losses isn’t limited to law enforcement in the Motor City.

While the total number of Michigan police agencies with officers who’ve been quarantined or have contracted the virus is not being tracked, Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police President Robert Stevenson said he’s heard from up to 20 departments that have one or more officers off duty due of the the coronavirus.

“I think it’s important that the citizens are assured that they’re not going to lose their public safety, of some sort,” Stevenson said.

A key to ensuring public safety is upheld, even if departments lose officers to the coronavirus, is mutual aid agreements, he said.

“All departments throughout the state are part of have been part of some mutual-aid task forces,” Stevenson said. " ... We’ve discussed this for years as possible and have a contingency plan."

Stevenson recently met with director of the Michigan State Police Col. Joseph Gasper and Michigan Sheriff’s Association Vice President Matt Saxton.

“We’ve talked about what we would do and how we would help each other out if something were to happen in a particular city,” Stevenson said. “I do know that the colonel has spoken with the chief from the Detroit Police Department and I know that the Michigan State Police would be there to help in some degree if a department was hard hit and couldn’t field a police force for a period of time.”

" ... The leaders in the policing field have been together have talked about this and we will make sure that communities have policing."

Most agencies MLive inquired with didn’t divulge any specifics about their contingency plans.

“We have a plan in place,” Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald F. Pussehl Jr. told MLive. "I am hopeful that we will not have to implement it.

“Our officers are practicing the Centers for Disease Control guidelines and are being very careful about their surroundings. So far, everyone is healthy and no one is exhibiting any of the signs of the virus.”

Eastpointe Public Safety Director George T. Rouhib Jr. said his department is “cautious but in good shape.”

“Anything can happen at this point,” he said. " ... If we do begin to lose officers, many of our officers assigned to other positions other than patrol will respond to calls along with the administration. The county is working on a mutual-aid agreement between the state ,county, and local agencies. We can always as usual depend on our neighbors."

Since the coronavirus began to spread in Michigan, police agencies have taken precautions to combat the potential spread, especially during interactions with the public but also among themselves.

After Gov. Whitmer declared a State of Emergency, several police agencies said they will no longer respond to low-level crimes, such as minor thefts, in person and will instead take reports over the phone.

Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green in a March 12 “coronavirus exposure mitigation” memo told his officers, “until further notice,” not to respond in person to reports of larceny; property destruction; retail fraud, if a suspect isn’t known or the value of the theft is under $1,000; attempted break-ins or break-ins at unoccupied buildings, including garages or vacant homes; ID theft when the victim isn’t financially harmed and reimbursed by their bank; harassing phone calls or emails; credit card theft if the charges arise outside Lansing and calls of lost property.

In Montcalm County, 911 dispatchers began asking callers about possible symptoms of illness, which they then shared with medics, firefighters or police responding to a call.

“In an effort to promote safety for everyone involved, a new line of questioning has been introduced to our call in-take process,” Montcalm County Central Dispatch posed to its Facebook page. "Until further notice, we will be asking questions about the health and exposure risk of all of our 911 and business line callers where a responder could potentially have face to face contact with the public.

“We assure you that our added questioning is not going to slow down response times.”

Detroit and Pittsfield Township are among departments that have instituted medical screenings for each officer, every shift. Detroit takes each officers’ temperature and allows no more than two police in the same elevator together.

Lansing and other departments say they are debriefing officers at the end of their shifts to determine if they may have any risk of exposure to the coronavirus based on the calls they responded to.

“Lansing Police Department has protocols and procedures in place for numerous scenarios that involve Covid-19,” Lansing police spokesman Robert Merritt said. “As you know this virus is ever changing paths and angles. Lansing police continue to plan, react, battle on a day-to-day basis.”

Despite police assurances, many Michigan residents rushed to gun stores across the state in the week leading up to Gov. Whitmer’s stay-at-home order that closed all non-essential businesses, including gun shops.

Philip Sheridan, the owner of Sheridan Arms in Saginaw, said nearly half of the customers he served were first-time gun owners.

“People are frightened and they want to make sure they have a personal protection firearm in case things get really crazy," he said.

Stevenson said there’s no reason to worry about a lack of police to maintain peace and order.

“At this time when there’s so much anxiety, we don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, my God, we’re not going to have any police here,'" said Stevenson, a retired Livonia police chief. “You will have police there.”

"We’re working together closely, and that’s one thing that law enforcement has always been very, very good at, is working back and forth in times of emergency and disaster.”

Another 801 cases of coronavirus COVID-19 were reported in Michigan, with the total number reaching 3,657 on Friday, March 27, up from 2,856 from the day before.

Ninety-two people have died, according to the state’s daily update on coronavirus numbers. That’s up from 60 on Thursday.

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CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops ) and when you go into places like stores.

Read all of MLive’s coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

To read more on MLive:

Friday, March 27: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

GM will build ventilators in Indiana, surgical masks in Warren

Whitmer says Michigan schools very unlikely to re-open this school year

Michigan medical chief fears hospitals will run out of room