KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Police Department has re-implemented COVID-19 safety measures focused on protecting public and personal health.
The decision to re-implement the safety measures came due to the current COVID-19 situation. As of Friday, the Knox County Health Department noted three red benchmarks with 15,771 cases.
Since the start of the pandemic, KPD has had 18 positive COVID-19 cases — a relatively small number for the 497 employees. However, rising cases means police need to do their part to reduce the risk of exposure or transmission.
KPD spokesperson Scott Erland said staffing and community presence will stay the same.
One change is that police will not be not responding to non-injury crashes unless multiple cars are involved or the road is blocked.
Erland said they follow the same procedure when there is severe weather.
A viewer reached out to us asking what does that mean for insurance?
"In the event that we do have weather, there is an increased chance of accidents happening but really when weather is warmer you have more people driving," said Greg Scealf with Knoxville Insurance Group. "There hasn't really been a big increase since this all started."
Scealf said if a person is in an accident and police are not able to respond, they should get as much detail as possible. The drivers should take a picture of each other's insurance cards and drivers' licenses. They should also take pictures of the damage and write down information from witnesses.
Detailed pictures from all angles are helpful even, if they may seem unnecessary.
If you're searching for more information, Erland recommends reaching out to your own insurance company to see if they advise any differently.
He said this is just a short term adjustment, the patrol division has been largely unaffected and hopes to keep it that way.
Tennessee Highway Patrol has a similar policy in place. Troopers are investigating single-car accidents by phone if there is not damage to another's property, criminal activity and the car can still be driven.