FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Fresno County’s Sheriff responds Thursday after California orders a curfew to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Sheriff Margaret Mims said she will not enforce the order and will not arrest any law abiding citizen for breaking it.
“We’re not gonna make criminals of normally law abiding citizens,” said Sheriff Margaret Mims
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones issued a statement, saying his department will not be enforcing the new order.
San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said he would, and will allocate eight full-time deputies to help investigate health order complaints and issue citations in cases where residents refuse to comply.
Sheriff Mims took to Zoom Thursday afternoon, saying she doesn’t see any correlation between the curfew hours and the spread of the virus, and she’s not arresting people who break curfew.
Mims said that when speaking earlier to the state’s Office of Emergency Services, she and other sheriffs asked if OES would be sending out strike teams to enforce the order. Mims said OES told her they would not this time.
The City of Fresno sent out a release Thursday asking residents to “voluntarily comply” with the Nov. 21 – Dec 21st 10:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. curfew ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom’s office.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
