As Guam begins the road to recovery after Typhoon Sinlaku, law enforcement is shifting from storm response to public safety on damaged and darkened roadways. KUAM News spoke with Police Chief Stephen Ignacio, who says even as conditions improve, the risks are far from over.

In the hours before and during Sinlaku, local law enforcers across the island moved into full response mode. GPD's chief says officers were deployed islandwide – executing a full-scale typhoon response plan designed to keep communities safe. "Everything from crime suppression, augmenting patrol, and then one of the big things was security for the typhoon shelters," confirmed Chief Ignacio.

And now that the typhoon has passed, their work continues as they shift to tackling the aftermath. From flooded areas to debris-covered roadways, some major routes remain blocked off.

The chief adds that a section of the outermost south-bound land in West Agaña from the International Sports Center down to the US District Court of Guam is open, but still urges patience as the Department of Public Works continues their work of clearing sand pushed up onto roadways.

And with power outages still plaguing parts of the island, you may have noticed officers and trainees from GPD, Customs and Quarantine, and Airport Police can at various intersections.

They stand posted, directing drivers as traffic lights remain down along with power in these areas. The chief said, “We have police officers from GPD, Guam Customs, and the Department of Agriculture’s conservation officers working with us to provide traffic direction.” He added, “We noticed that quite a few of the lights already have power, but we’re just waiting on DPW to assess the lights at these intersections and reset them because they’re flashing right now.”

Chief Ignacio adding that in the days to follow as DPW's work continues, officers will remain posted to direct traffic until sundown or until rush hour eases.

“We have an operation strictly for traffic direction and control so, we’ll be monitoring all the lights throughout these major intersections until it gets dark and its no longer safe for us to be standing in the middle of traffic," he stated.

And even as the island moves into Condition of Readiness 4, Chief Ignacio says this is not a return to normal just yet. Guam is now navigating the storm’s aftermath — from fallen trees and rocks to damaged infrastructure and delayed utilities, including offline street lights.

With those out, Guam's top cop urges drivers to be aware of their surroundings and drive safely, advising, “But we’re dealing with the aftermath of a storm and so there are going to be a lot of dark places.”

“We want to remind motorists to be careful," he said. "There are still a lot of places on Guam that don’t have power or water yet. So, we remind people to be extra vigilant and look out – if you see anything suspicious…call any of our precincts and we’ll send officers out to check on anything you may deem suspicious.”

As Guam picks up the pieces, officials are asking everyone to do their part — stay vigilant, drive carefully, and give crews the time they need to restore normalcy.