Athens Police are enforcing the city’s mask mandate and gathering violations through education and voluntary compliance.
APD is enforcing guidelines from Ohio’s Department of Health. Athens also passed its own mask mandate ordinance in order to control the rising levels of COVID-19.
Athens City Council passed the mask ordinance on July 13, which requires the wearing of face coverings while in stores, in city buildings, outside when it is not possible to remain six feet apart from others, on public transportation and while waiting in line to go into a store or city owned building.
Athens Police Department Capt. Ralph Harvey said in a media release the goal of the mask mandate is voluntary compliance. APD will be issuing as many warnings as possible in the beginning of the ordinance’s enforcement to allow people time to get used to it.
“Mask enforcement is complaint-based and we have not received an overwhelming amount of complaints,” Harvey said in an email. “The mask ordinance is an administrative violation thus it is a citation similar to dog at large or a parking ticket.”
APD has not issued any tickets for mask violations. There are many exemptions in the law, which APD officers figure out while they take a complaint call.
“We may have several questions when you phone in a complaint, in order to determine if a violation has occurred, and to prioritize our response,” Harvey said in the release.
The fine for a mask violation is $100, which is payable to APD.
A fine for those violations is considered an administrative violation. It is not criminal unless the fine is not paid or appealed within 30 days, according to the media release.
APD does not maintain a record of the number of warnings that have been given out for mask or gathering violations. It has received less than eight calls for the specific service in the past week. For most of the called-in violations last week — and other past calls — APD officers did not find a violation when they arrived on the scene, Harvey said.
Anyone who is in violation of the Ohio Department of Health’s guidelines is subject to be charged however the officer sees fit. Charges could include a summon or an arrest. This is up to the officer on duty and their supervisor, Harvey said.
Mass gatherings in Ohio remain limited to 10 people, according to the Ohio Department of Health. This order will still allow individuals to go to work, school and grocery stores, and allow individuals to leave their homes to obtain other goods and services.
Individuals that are at gatherings should still participate in social distancing and wear a mask.
Outbreaks have been shown to develop from informal social gatherings including birthday parties, weddings, funerals and gatherings that happen in people’s homes. When individuals gather together, they increase the chance of spreading the virus, Gov. Mike DeWine said in the order.
The Ohio Department of Health also issued a statewide mask mandate. The mandate requires the wearing of masks for the same situations as the Athens ordinance.
There are times when wearing a mask is not mandatory. Those instances are written in the statewide mask mandate and the Addendum to Director’s Order for Facial Coverings in Level 3 Public Health Advisory.
Social distancing is also a requirement, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s mask mandate. This involves maintaining a distance of at least six feet from other individuals and washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or using hand sanitizer when soap and water is unavailable.
