What does enforcing the governor’s mask order look like from the perspective of police? Weatherford Police Chief Lance Arnold said his officers face several challenges.
“To enforce the order, officers would have to observe an offender be within six feet of others not in their household without a covering, then they would need to ascertain that they don’t have an undescribed medical condition or disability without detaining them,” Arnold said. “They will then need to figure out if the offender has already received a written or verbal warning without holding them. Finally, they would need to figure out if the business or property owner wanted to issue a criminal trespass warning, which could only occur if the offender did not voluntarily leave the business when asked by the officer.” “The order does not provide a list of medical conditions, nor does it give any detail as to how something like that could be verified,” Arnold said. “The order commands local law enforcement officials to enforce the rule, but also says an officer may not detain, arrest, or confine an offender in jail. As you can see, this order sounds great, but it is virtually impossible to enforce.”
