Local law enforcement discusses mask enforcement policies
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with an uptick in cases in St. Joseph County and elsewhere in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues to issue orders that modify or add to existing orders regarding mask use. The latest two came last week. On Monday, July 13, Executive Order 2020-147 attached fines to previous mask orders, and on Friday, Order 2020-153 strengthened or clarified rules pertaining to medical exemptions, public safety officers, and polling places.
In light of the tighter rules, Watershed Voice spoke with some local law enforcement officials to find out how they are treating mask usage around Three Rivers and St. Joseph County. The Three Rivers Police Department (TRPD) and the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department (SJCSD) each reported they have internal policies of responding to disputes that involve acts of trespass on businesses, but they are not going around to seek out or address individual violations.
TRPD Police Chief Tom Bringman said, “we aren’t going around hunting for people not wearing masks, because we still have a lot of other things going on. With the coronavirus thing going on, people just aren’t exactly in the best of spirits, and then people within families are having issues and spending too much time together, basically.” Bringman said he is emphasizing support for local businesses trying to stay compliant with the rules.
“We’re not writing a ticket for not wearing a mask. We’re backing our businesses, and any business at any time can refuse service to anybody. If somebody comes up and they don’t want to put on a mask, call us. We’ll come and give them a written warning, if you will, and it’s a trespass notice letting them know they’re not welcome in the business.
“We’ll word it that ‘you’re not welcome in this business unless you decide to wear your mask,’” which Bringman says puts the responsibility on the individual who wishes to enter a business and encourages them to follow the rules. “Like no shirt, no shoes, no service, it’s going to be no shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service.”
Undersheriff Jason Bingaman described a similar approach. “Essentially, if someone calls in, a citizen, with just a complaint of someone not wearing a mask, that’s something that we’re not directly going to respond to. There could be potentially just too many of those. We just don’t have the manpower or the resources,” Bingaman said. “If there’s a call of someone being belligerent or being disorderly, or if it’s a situation where a person is trespassing, i.e. unwilling to wear their mask and going into the business, then we can respond to that.”
For individual complaints, Bingaman said he is referring citizens to a task force the governor has set up through the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MiOSHA), which can be reached via a hotline at 1-855-SAFE-C19.
Bringman said the TRPD policy is based on existing procedures. “We just have a trespass thing, and it’s usually issued to people that have caused problems inside a business, or that have stolen at that business. It’s just a local ordinance. When I read it, I thought ‘this just makes more sense.’ This would be backing our businesses and letting the person know, ‘the ball’s back in your court now.’ All you have to do is put on a mask and you’re welcome to go in.”
Bringman credits Sturgis Director of Public Safety Geoff Smith for being proactive in putting similar policies in place. Smith is also president of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. “He was the first one in the county that put something out telling the citizens of their community to not call the police department for any issues about people not wearing masks, but call the state attorney general’s office in Lansing,” Bringman said. “And then within a couple of hours he put something out saying, ‘however, we are going to back our businesses and we will help to go calm people down that have issues.’”
According to Bringman, Smith contracted COVID-19 himself early in the pandemic and was quarantined for a period of time. “Now, I don’t know all of his symptoms because he doesn’t talk about it much, but he had to stay home and he took care of himself,” Bringman said. “He just got ill, but he didn’t have anything life-threatening. It hits different people different ways. That’s what I’ve been told.” Watershed Voice attempted to contact Smith in preparing for this article but was unable to reach him.
Bringman said the policy is “just based on what I figured is logic. It’s a decision that I made in conjunction will all the officers. We make our officers wear masks in and out of the department and to set an example, and we ask them to promote it.” Bringman takes the pandemic seriously, he said, because of the potential threat it poses.
“I don’t know if you heard, there was a big party someplace, and there was a whole bunch of people there and they were joking about the coronavirus being misleading and people have an agenda saying that it is and is not real and all that,” Bringman said. “One of the people, a guy that happened to be 30 years of age, he ended up getting sick and went to the hospital. They tested him. He had the coronavirus, and he ended up talking with them a little bit and within a matter of a few days, the guy up and died. And right before he died, he talked about, ‘you know maybe people ought to be taking this more seriously.’”
Bringman is caring for a loved one who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the West Michigan Cancer Center in Kalamazoo, where he had an opportunity to speak to staff. “They have between 100 and 120 people a day that go through the cancer center getting chemo,” he said. “So, every one of those people are, their immune systems are in jeopardy. Then you have other people that don’t even know they have different health issues going on. It’s just something brand new, the coronavirus. Someday they’ll have a shot of some sort, an immunity of some sort. Hopefully it’ll come along, but it’s scary.”
Neither TRPD nor SJCSD has had to enforce its policies so far. “I think our citizens are doing a great job of either following the directive, adhering to what the merchants are asking them to do, or finding a different way to get what they need. If we responded to one of those, I mean the bottom line is every business has a right to restrict people from their business if it’s based on something lawful,” Bingaman said.
“You can go the same route with (Concealed Pistol Licenses),” he continued. “There are businesses that don’t allow people to carry firearms inside their business, and if you go in in violation of that being posted, you’re trespassing. But, again, we don’t get many of those either. The bottom line is we’re not getting many of these calls. Not in this county.”
Bringman said most discussion he has had with people regarding mask enforcement has been through casual interactions out in the community. “They’ll say, ‘well, what do you think of wearing the mask?’ I’ll say it’s for our own safety. If you don’t want to wear it for your safety, wear it for your family’s safety. Wear it for your kid’s safety. Somebody you care about’s safety, and even your own. A lot of times, the person will go back to their car and get a mask and go back on towards the door,” Bringman said.
“You know, that’s just talking to somebody down to earth, you know looking at the logic. Don’t take it personally. It’s nothing against you, it’s something to protect everybody. And that’s no guarantee, if you wear a mask, either, as far as that goes. It just is an added measure of protection.”
Bringman wants to “promote people doing the right thing for the right reasons. It’s for their own safety, their own health.” He said it is important to show compassion and to take simple measures to protect both oneself and others. “This is something brand new, obviously, it’s something none of us have ever experienced before, but the only way our economy’s going to get back headed in the right direction is for people to like shopping and that.
“Wear a mask, turn away from people if you happen to be walking towards them, you know if you’re not feeling good stay home, you know stuff along those lines. All this stuff is for a reason. There’s no political agenda on anybody’s part.”
Bingaman, who said his department will respond to acts of belligerence, emphasized civility. “It’s a big community and we all have to work together,” he said. “It’s important to remember that the employees at these places, they didn’t make this rule. They’re just following the directive, so sometimes I feel like we need to make sure we don’t misplace our anger or words towards people that have no say in what’s happening.”
Dave Vago is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
