SAINT JOHN, NB - The Saint John Police Force has a contingency plan in place to deal with any outbreak of the swine flu among it's members.

Chief Bill Reid says public safety comes first.

He says the department is in line with other police agencies and has followed the same guidelines as other emergency services including the fire department.

Reid says, "For us its not just policing, its our public safety communications centre as well, any of those entities we're responsible for, to make sure that in the event that our members get sick we can ensure that most of our operations will continue."

Reid says police are not in the first H1N1 priority group and he's been in contact with the medical health officer about inoculations for police officers.

He suspects there will be enough vaccine in the next couple of weeks to enable officers to get the shots.