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Despite a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, many Southern California police departments say they are taking an education-focused approach to the new curfew that goes into effect across much of the state on Saturday rather than a aggressive application.
The limited stay-at-home order, which hopes officials will help stem an unprecedented outbreak of new coronavirus cases, will ban most non-essential activities outside the home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the most stringent and purple level counties of the state’s four. phase reopening plan with color code. About 94% of Californians live in these counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, and San Diego.
LA County also has a separate restriction that requires non-essential restaurants and stores to close to the public at 10 p.m., although take-out and delivery services may continue after that time.
LA County Sheriff’s Department, hoping people will voluntarily comply with the new rules, will only look to criminal law as an “extreme last resort,” a policy it has observed since the first stay orders. at home in March, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement Thursday.
“We trust the community and rely on people to assess the risks and take the necessary precautions,” he said.
Villanueva told KTTV-TV Channel 11 that the department will focus its efforts on non-essential businesses that don’t close at 10 p.m. as scheduled.
“If we receive a complaint, we will obviously investigate, we will respond to the location, we will contact the owner and ask them to comply, and then, if they don’t, we have the option of making a citation,” A declared Villanueva. “We can also prepare a criminal report for violation of a health order, and we will give it to the Ministry of Public Health and let them decide what to do with it.”
Likewise, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department will help verify companies’ compliance with public health rules, including curfews, the department said.
The city attorney’s and mayor’s offices will work to identify businesses that do not comply with regulations, and disaster service workers will observe establishments during opening hours and open complaints as necessary, the said. Captain Stacy Spell, a spokesperson for the LAPD, in a statement.
“During off-peak hours, this list of locations will be provided to the department and a service call will be generated by [the] the communications division directs a patrol unit and supervisor to respond and determine if there is compliance, ”Spell said. “If the business is found to be non-compliant, a complaints application will be created.”
As of Friday morning, the LAPD was still awaiting instructions from the command staff on exactly how to enforce the broader curfew. Spell said the ministry would provide advice to officers before the curfew goes into effect.
“However, it is our shared responsibility to slow the spread of COVID, and we encourage all Angelenos to follow public health guidelines, which include wearing masks in public, social distancing, hand washing, and respect. trade guidelines, ”he said.
Law enforcement agencies in neighboring counties have also underscored this message of personal guilt. Some went further and said they would not answer calls for service alleging people were not complying with public health rules, including the new curfew.
“Let me be clear – this is a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter of law enforcement,” Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement. “Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies will not be dispatched or respond to calls for service to enforce compliance with face masks, social gatherings or stay-at-home orders only.”
MPs will always respond to calls alleging criminal behavior or threats to life or property, he said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said it will continue to refer people who report violations of public health orders to the county’s joint information center so that complaints can be sorted and assigned to the appropriate department.
“We do not intend to use patrol personnel to respond to these allegations,” the department said in a statement. “We are confident that members of the communities we serve will act responsibly and use good judgment to do their part to slow the spread of the virus.”
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, openly opposing stay-at-home restrictions since the start of the crisis, also said his department’s policy was to encourage personal accountability.
“To ensure that constitutional rights are not violated and to limit potential negative interactions and exposure to our MPs, we will not respond to calls for service solely on the basis of non-compliance with the New Order or distancing guidelines social and mask, ”Bianco said in a statement. .
In contrast, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said he would assign eight full-time assistants to help investigate health complaints and quickly issue citations when residents refuse to comply.
“When we cannot alleviate the situation we are facing, this is when deputy sheriffs are there to take enforcement action, either through citations or by writing case reports for the district attorney or, in the city of San Diego, the city attorney over there, ”Gore said Thursday.
The sheriff said his department has already secured cooperation with police departments in cities that do not contract with the county for police services. Oceanside, Carlsbad, San Diego, Chula Vista and Coronado have, he said, signaled their willingness to cooperate with the county to enforce health rules in their jurisdictions.
Paul Sisson, editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, contributed to this report.
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