Fairfield police will conduct limited COVID curfew enforcement
The police will respond only in "extreme circumstances" and will prioritize emergency calls instead.
(Graphic by Solano News Update)
The Fairfield Police Department on Saturday said it would conduct a limited amount of enforcement related to a state-imposed curfew that is set to begin later in the evening.
In a statement distributed through Nixle, the agency said it would “continue to prioritize emergency calls from our community” and will approach enforcement of the curfew order through education and warnings instead of citations and arrests.
That message was significantly different from one issued earlier in the week by neighboring agencies in Vacaville and Vallejo in which those offices said they would not commit resources to enforcing measures while at the same time urging members of the public to adhere to the curfew and other health guidelines.
It was also substantially different from one issued by the Solano County Sheriff’s Office that illustrated the matter as one in which individual liberties and personal responsibility took priority over public health.
Unlike the three agencies — all of which said they would not dispatch officers or deputies to enforce the measure — the Fairfield Police Department said it would respond with enforcement “only in extreme circumstances.”
“We will approach the latest COVID order in the same manner we have previously,” the agency said.
Fairfield Police didn’t explain what it would consider to be an extreme circumstance, but the tone of the message seemed to suggest officers would only respond if there was a significant threat to public health or safety or if a situation created a serious nuisance to others.
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