Safety is priority for law enforcement leaders in Washington County

While the Coronavirus Pandemic has resulted in the closure and cancellation of many businesses and events, local law enforcement is doing their best to remain 'business as usual”, while stressing the need for residents to do their part to help stop the spread of the virus.

'Our priority is always the safety of the public,” explained Washington County Sheriff Jared Schneider. 'While how we handle some types of calls may be a bit different during this time, we are still enforcing laws and investigating cases. It's important for everyone to do their part in this, and the best thing they can do at this point is to follow the guidelines and stay home.”

Some of the closures and modifications have had an effect on normal law enforcement operations. All court trials have been continued until at least June, and notices to appear for simple misdemeanor, and traffic offenses are being set at least six weeks from the date they are issued.

The Washington County Jail also has seen changes and modifications of its operations. Sheriff Schneider said that screening procedures were put into place to reduce exposure from people entering the jail. Public fingerprinting and inmate visitation have also been canceled until further notice. Court hearings are being done over the video court system whenever possible. Sheriff Schneider also reports that their daily inmate count has reduced from 68 inmates in early March, down to 30 inmates as of April 13th.

Social distancing and self-isolation are the new norm, and the Governor's Proclamations prohibit gatherings of more than 10 people. Public health professionals encourage those groups to only be members of a single household and discourage family or neighborhood gatherings even if social distancing is being practiced.

Violation of any of the Governor's Orders is a simple misdemeanor. However, local law enforcement at this time does not plan to be issuing a lot of citations. 'For the time being, officers will be taking time to provide education about the orders,” said Washington Police Chief Jim Lester. 'There's a lot of misinformation out there on what is suggested and what has been ordered by the Governor, so we are going to do our best to provide information and education. We're all in this together and the sooner we can help stop the spread, the sooner we can get things back to normal. Our message echoes that of the Sheriff and the public health professionals, Stay Home”.