The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office planned for increased staffing during the virus pandemic, but the number of bookings to the jail is down.
The sheriff's office tells 6 News that from Sunday into Monday, just one man had been put behind bars.
Lieutenant Dennis Svoboda says hundreds of officers and deputies in the county are out patrolling the streets during the pandemic, but the number of calls to 911 has gone down dramatically. He says that's because of the directed health measures ordered by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts. "We see citizens are doing their job and we encourage them to continue to do that."
Svoboda says their call load county-wide is down 22%. “Calls such as alarm calls, that's one of our highest calls for service, those types of calls are all down right now, which ultimately allows our people more time to go out on patrol."
“There’s not as much traffic out there. Traffic accidents are down… Things like that lead to that reduction in jail admissions,” said Svoboda.
More deputies and officers are also on the streets since schools have shut down as school resource officers are now spending their time out patrolling.
Svoboda wants to remind people though, that just because the number of calls are down doesn't mean there's a lack of law enforcement out on the streets. “Our patrol people are out there we're out on the streets answering calls for service. We're conducting routine patrols and we're investigating criminal activity."