Business provides free cleaning of Salinas Police vehicles

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Salinas Police officers have been busy.

"We haven't been able to sanitize or clean our cars for probably two months," said Sergeant Dale Fors with the Salinas Police Department.

Even amid a pandemic, calls are still coming in and crime needs to be stopped.

"We've still been arresting people that have needed to be arrested for various types of crimes. With that comes the risk of exposure to our officers," said Fors.

The high risk of exposure to infection is something officers didn't have to consider as frequently before the pandemic. Now, they are reminded of it on almost every street corner.

Recently, the Salinas Police Department was given a new level of protection.

"They spend eight hours a day in their patrol vehicles. This is their office," said Eddie Somoza, owner of AdvantaClean in Marina.

Somoza and his team came to the Salinas Police station to clean around 60 patrol cars. Their method includes a fog machine that attacks and kills bacteria in the air and on surfaces.

"We are concentrating on high touch areas like the dashboard, steering wheel, entry points, seat belts and seats," said Somoza.

The cleaning service was offered to the department entirely for free.

Car detail services have faced their own challenges during the pandemic, but Somoza still made it a priority to give back to an important cause.

"This will give our officers more reassurance to go out, do their job and keep protecting the the public," said Fors.