Coronavirus threat and stay-at-home order: Police say they want compliance, not arrests

On Thursday night, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order instructing all Californians to stay home in hopes it’ll help mitigate the coronavirus spread.

“People will ask: ‘Well, how will you enforce?’” the Governor pondered during his announcement.

In general, agencies are saying they are looking more for compliance than to make arrests.

The order was far-reaching, though it exempted businesses and services deemed essential such as grocery stories, pharmacies and government offices. But by and large, the bulk of people should be home.

The order comes with a misdemeanor penalty for anyone who violates it but the governor also said, “I don’t believe the people of California need to be told through law enforcement” and instead said social pressure would keep people at home.

Some Southern California law enforcement agencies said they won’t go looking for those skirting the order but if they come across a crowd or group, they’ll remind them to comply.

“We would make contact and remind people that hey this order is in place and to please disperse,” Fullerton police Sgt. Eric Bridges said.

“We’re hoping that everyone understands the severity of it and the purpose behind (the order).”

So far the residents of Fullerton have seemed to take recent orders to stay home seriously, Bridges said.

Earlier this week the Orange County Health Care Agency issued an order prohibiting public and private gatherings but it left confusion and questions for many residents. On Friday afternoon, the Orange County congressional delegation sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors urging them to immediately adopt a shelter-in-place order more in line with the the Governor’s that would leave it clear to the county what the local directives are.

Authorities in Los Angeles did not send out any major directives to their personnel about enforcing the order.

“This is not martial law. Nor is it intended to arrest people who leave their home,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a video about the Stay at home order that Los Angles County put in place shortly before the statewide one.

“It is simply an effort to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. This is temporary,” Villanueva said. “There is no need to panic.”

When it comes to policing on a day-to-day basis, some agencies have made changes for the sake of decreasing person-to-person contact so as to quell the spread of the virus. Several agencies closed their lobbies and front service desks to the public, opting to do things by phone or online. Other agencies have increased patrols in their areas.

In the Inland Empire, law enforcement agencies said though the stay at home order gives them the authority to arrest people or levy fines, that’s not the direction they intend to take.

“Are we going out there and stopping and arresting people ’cause they’re out there in public? No. There’s no martial law,” said Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback, a spokesman for the department.

And even with police departments’ reluctance to enforce the order, there may not be a real need to. People, for the most part, seem to be complying with the stay at home directive, authorities said.

Corona police Capt. Sergio Banales said he has observed fewer people outside, noting a slight dip in drivers on the road and pedestrians on sidewalks.

And aside from long lines outside of supermarkets like Costco, Banales said, things appear to be calm.

All week, police have already been posting more officers at or near grocery stores and supermarkets as the demand for food and other items has increased amid the rapid announcements of new cases across the state and new restrictions.

Similar actions were taken in Redlands, where the police department has reassigned units to add more patrols during the week to double the nighttime staffing. It will also concentrate in retail and commercial areas of the city, the Redlands Police Department said.

Though even among the crowds of grocery store dwellers, the police-related incidents have been few.

“It looks like most people are taking this seriously,” said Fullerton’s Bridges.