COVID-19 and CMPD’s Response: Will They Be Randomly Stopping People?
I have been asking myself, when will CMPD be involved in stopping people who are out and about during this new Stay-at-Home Order? Well, now my questions are all answered.
Since our Stay-at-Home Order that our Mayor and governor issued in Mecklenburg County, guidance regarding enforcement has been scarce. However, now we have an answer directly from CMPD. According to a recent press release, the following will be done to keep residents safe and healthy.
• CMPD will manage this order respectfully through voluntary compliance, education, dialogue and cooperation from community members.
• To be clear, officers will not be proactively stopping people to ask where they are going, where they have been or where they work.
• Officers will not be coordinating checkpoints to determine the travel plans of community members.
• Our enforcement efforts will be complaint-driven.
• Complaints concerning stay at home order violations should be made by calling 311.
• Before taking action, your supervisor should be notified in the event enforcement of the Stay-at-Home Order is necessary. That supervisor should notify Operations Command.
• The Mass Gatherings Order is being reduced to groups of 10 people or more.
• We do have the authority to issue citations or make misdemeanor arrests if all efforts for voluntary cooperation cannot be attained. This is the last resort and something we will work to avoid but will be necessary if we cannot attain community cooperation.
Stay safe and healthy CLT!
