Scores of Los Angeles police officers who have symptoms related to the coronavirus or who must quarantine because of possible exposure have the choice of self-isolating at home or moving into the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A., according to two law enforcement sources.
The officers will be housed on at least two floors of the iconic Pershing Square hotel, a move that the LAPD has kept under wraps from the public, the sources said. The accommodations are not being covered with taxpayer funds but are paid for by the Los Angeles Police Foundation, a nonprofit independent group that buys police equipment and offers other support to the LAPD.
Staff of another city agency, the Los Angeles Fire Department, will self-isolate or quarantine in fire station community rooms, which are used mainly as classrooms, according to Capt. Branden Silverman. The ad-hoc facilities, which are in separate buildings from the stations, are equipped with bathrooms and showers and have been furnished with cots, although Silverman said nearly all of the LAFD staff have been able to self-isolate at home.
“We’re preparing for a huge influx of department members becoming ill,” Silverman said. “We definitely needed to have that logistical setup ready, but we have not been as impacted as the East Coast fire departments.”
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