It’s been two weeks since Gov. Brad Little’s statewide “Stay at Home” order asked all Idahoans band together to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus – and it’s changed the way we are all living.
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for our patrol deputies as most everybody in Ada County has limited travel and interaction in the community to fill only essential needs.
While the number of calls for service are about the same, many of those calls have been complaints or inquiries about businesses people suspect are not following the “stay at home” order or people not following social distancing guidelines.
We’d like to gently ask people to weigh whether any behavior they see is actually creating an immediate or significant danger. If not, then it probably isn’t worth worrying about too much about or deserving of a call to law enforcement.
Since March 26, the day after the “stay at home” order went into effect, our Ada County dispatchers have taken at least 230 different calls for service — complaints and inquiries where people want an investigation — related to COVID-19 from all over Ada County. That number doesn’t include medical calls – just inquiries for law enforcement.
Of those 230, 35 were in ACSO jurisdiction.
The complaints have ranged from reports of groups of teens playing sports like basketball or soccer, or just kids playing outside; businesses being open, like restaurants, taverns, or gyms having people inside; house parties; people playing golf who don’t appear to be six feet apart; construction workers standing too close to each other; and about businesses some people don’t think are essential.
As we said when the order was issued, we would emphasize education and the good judgement of our citizens if there were disputes about the order.
That is the way it has played out so far. Deputies have done some education, and the people they have interacted with have voluntarily complied with our advice.
Many of the businesses people complained about were closed when deputies went by. Some had people inside doing maintenance or cleaning but were not open to the public.
Our ACSO deputies and officers for the three cities the ACSO does contract policing for — Kuna, Eagle, and Star — have not issued any tickets at this point for violations of the “stay-at-home” order or routed any cases for further consideration.
We expect that to continue.
We realize these are confusing times, and there is a lot of anxiety about community spread of COVID-19. What we are asking is that people to voluntarily comply with the order – and the vast majority of Ada County residents have done that.
The best way for us all work together to fight the spread of the coronavirus is not to fight amongst ourselves. What does work is controlling what we can control – our own actions. Wash your hands. Maintain safe social distancing. Limit unnecessary travel. If you feel sick, stay home and isolate yourself from others.