“Resources are always limited (as they should be) and prioritization is necessary. Why should they focus on who is and isn’t wearing a mask over enforcing laws against, I don’t know, robbery, rape and murder?”
I’m all for the police prioritizing serious crimes over more minor crimes (potentially to the extent of not enforcing the minor crime at all), but I have a problem, as a general rule, with the police telling people that they won’t enforce a law and will instead just be asking for voluntary compliance. That sort of statement is completely unnecessary, and seems to indicate that the city doesn’t have as strong control of their police as they should.
Also, there’s this misconception of what’s expected of whom. In most cases the police are asked to make sure businesses are implementing the proper administrative controls—proper signage, politely telling people to wear a mask, training their workers on deescalation, making masks available to customers who forgot their mask, etc. If an individual fails to comply with the mandate, a business (or anyone) can (but doesn’t have to) report the incident, and if the police are able to identify the person who who failed to comply with the mandate, a fine can be issued.
“Resources are always limited (as they should be) and prioritization is necessary. Why should they focus on who is and isn’t wearing a mask over enforcing laws against, I don’t know, robbery, rape and murder?”
I’m all for the police prioritizing serious crimes over more minor crimes (potentially to the extent of not enforcing the minor crime at all), but I have a problem, as a general rule, with the police telling people that they won’t enforce a law and will instead just be asking for voluntary compliance. That sort of statement is completely unnecessary, and seems to indicate that the city doesn’t have as strong control of their police as they should.
I’m with ya. Especially since “stochastic enforcement” should always be doable:
Expected penalty = fine × probability of getting caught
That would be independent of department resources.
Also, there’s this misconception of what’s expected of whom. In most cases the police are asked to make sure businesses are implementing the proper administrative controls—proper signage, politely telling people to wear a mask, training their workers on deescalation, making masks available to customers who forgot their mask, etc. If an individual fails to comply with the mandate, a business (or anyone) can (but doesn’t have to) report the incident, and if the police are able to identify the person who who failed to comply with the mandate, a fine can be issued.