Between the three of them, Sedona Police Chief Charles Husted, Lt. Lucas Wilcoxson and Sgt. Michael Dominguez have around 75 years of law enforcement experi­ence under their collec­tive belts. But 2020 has caught them all by surprise.

“The last four months have been certainly some of the most challenging months of my career in terms of the sustained crisis that we’ve been in,” Husted said. “Usually, a crisis will last a few days, maybe a week at most. It’s been extremity challenging coming up with protocols in order to keep our staff safe, their families safe and also the community safe. We’re trying to use the best standards we can.”

Early on in the COVID- 19 pandemic SPD part­nered with the Sedona Fire District to mirror its practices so that both agencies were on the same page when responding to calls together. But aside from the physical health aspect, Husted said it’s been a matter of navigating through the emotional side associated with the pandemic such as fears and the stress many have experienced from being unemployed. But it’s not just the coro­navirus police are facing these days.

“We have a small yet very strong community and I certainly don’t want that community to be divided on any issue,” Husted said. “As we transition to maintaining our COVID prepared­ness, we understand the stress that comes with the national conversation regarding anti-police rhetoric. We’re fortunate to serve in a community that is very supportive of public safety. But at the same time our officers and staff are not immune to what’s on the TV and social media in terms of what’s going on outside of Sedona. There’s a lot of hateful speech toward law enforcement.”

Husted said it’s been important to stress to his staff that the rhetoric isn’t directed at them personally but rather the institution of law enforce­ment and the injustices that have occurred over the years. That’s why he’s been thankful for the outpouring of support from local residents to the police department.

“You put everything together, and it’s a very challenging time for us and the community as well,” he said. “I want to personally thank our community for the support we’ve received. I get emails almost daily, cards several times per week or random acts of kindness in which people reach out in positive ways toward our officers and civilian staff. It’s all been over­whelming. This is unlike anything I’ve seen at this sustained level in my career. It’s both rewarding and very humbling.”

Husted hopes that this outpouring of support will encourage the entire staff’s continued desire to serve more, protect better and to try harder in their service because the community deserves “nothing but the best.”

Covid and Policing

Statistics show that overall, crime has been down in Sedona since the pandemic began and stay-at-home orders were issued. There has been an uptick in criminal damage incidents, assault inci­dents and threats/intimi­dation calls. Many of the threat-type calls involved disagreements about such things as wearing masks. At the same time there was a downward trend in collisions, fraud reports and suspicious person/ circumstance calls.

Dominguez and Wilcoxson said neither have noticed an increase in domestic violence reports since the pandemic began, unlike national stats that have shown otherwise with more people forced to stay at home.

“We really didn’t have any major issues during that time,” Dominguez said.

Peaceful Protests

Following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, there were protests in cities big and small and Sedona was no exception.

“For us, the protests have been very peaceful,” Wilcoxson said. “The groups involved reached out to us to let us know what their plans were. I don’t think any of the protests were a surprise to us — we knew about them ahead of time.”

While Verde Valley protests were peaceful, that hasn’t always been the case across the nation, including parts of Arizona. Rioting and looting that occurred has mostly been in larger cities but smaller towns were not immune.

“We were prepared,” Wilcoxson said. “We had several officers on special detail for these events. So we had extra staffing and had meetings to discuss how to handle everything properly.”

Husted added, “We took a stance of trying to connect with organizers as early as possible and have that person-to-person conversation and not make the assumption that they are here to do harm to our community or cause damage. We found that the folks who came out were very cooperative and wanted to express their thoughts on certain topics that they were passionate about.”

This meant that SPD officers did not don riot gear but instead passed out bottles of water to the protestors. And while they were prepared for any type of violence, Husted said that response would have been used only as a last resort.

A Reminder

With nationwide protests continuing in some cities, police have been put under the microscope as there have been calls for reform and in some cases, defunding.

As Husted noted, even though rhetoric against law enforcement has been prevalent and inflammatory, they can’t take it personally. That’s why he, Wilcoxson and Dominguez all encour­aged people to get to know them and other offi­cers before painting all of those in law enforce­ment with the same broad brush.

“I’ve met public safety officials throughout the county and I know for a fact that not all cops are bad,” Husted said. “Very few make bad choices. But it’s important to remember that police officers — just like anyone else in any other profession — are human beings.

“We do everything we can to screen and train and make sure everyone meets the high standards that are expected. But human being beings make bad decisions and choices and that happens in our profession. But when that happens, we’re not happy about that. We want those things to change. It’s very frustrating to see instances where officers tarnish the badge. While most do a great job, the reality is, we can always get better.”

Dominguez said he would like to see more people treat every police off i c e r individua l l y the same way he gives respect to everyone he comes in contact with.

“I’m a nice guy, so my response is going to be the same whether the person is not a nice person or a nice person,” he said. “I’m going to give them the courtesy and profes­sionalism that’s expected of me and what I expect from myself. Judge us by who we are, not as an entire group.”

Wilcoxson agreed.

“The majority of those of us in law enforcement are professional and work for our communities to make things better,” he said. ”But the downfall is, we get judged by the actions of a select few who do things that aren’t right.”