Boise area leaders rally behind Idaho stay-home order. But they’re not enforcing it
When it comes to enforcing Gov. Brad Little’s stay-home order, issued March 25 and renewed Wednesday, state and local officials are all talk.
Violating the order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in a county jail or a $1,000 fine, or both. But Statesman requests for information about enforcement turned up not a single citation or arrest by police or sheriff’s deputies in the Treasure Valley’s two counties or its four largest cities, Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell, despite hundreds if not thousands of citizen complaints to authorities in the past four weeks.
That is mostly by design. From the start, Little said he strongly preferred to avoid punishing people for gathering in groups or failing to keep at least 6 feet from other people, or punishing businesses for staying open when they’re nonessential.
“Peer pressure from the communities is always our first preference,” Little said when he announced the order.
Education, not citation
“We’re focused on educating people.” That is the standard line that Boise, Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell gave when asked how they were enforcing social distancing mandates meant to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
“We don’t want to give people tickets for this stuff,” said Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Patrick Orr. “We want people to be healthy and happy.”
Even so, that hasn’t stopped concerned residents from notifying their local police departments and the state about people and businesses they believe are violating the order. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office, which operates dispatch services countywide, has received over 300 calls related to compliance with social distancing orders, Orr said. Calls come about everything from a few kids playing basketball at a park to late-night parties with over 10 people.
The Boise Police Department has received an average of seven calls a day related to violations of the order, said spokeswoman Haley Williams. The Caldwell Police Department and the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office say they have received few complaints.
The state posted a form on April 1 for people to use to tell officials about businesses violating Little’s order. Some conservative legislators objected, saying it compounded their concerns about the constitutionality of Little’s order. The Department of Health and Welfare took it down a few days later.
Now the department is saying little about the complaints it receives. In response to a Statesman public-request seeking records of complaints against businesses in Ada and Canyon counties, Health and Welfare said it received 256 complaints but had no records to share about complaints made regarding businesses in Ada or Canyon counties regarding violations of the stay-at-home order.
“We’ve really been using the complaints that we’ve gotten on the hotline to help recommend policy to the governor and also to clarify information in the stay-home orders,” said department spokeswoman Niki Forbing-Orr by phone.
“Most people want to do the right thing,” she said.
Local police departments respond to complaints
Rather than ticket the violators or close businesses, law enforcement agencies direct residents to information on COVID-19.
“Meridian Police Department helps to educate the public and businesses while encouraging personal responsibility while complying with the order,” wrote Shandy Lam, communications manager for the city, in an email.
Cities are also fielding dozens of questions about what makes a business “essential.”
In Nampa, calls came in about a dog-grooming business that stayed open. City officials were surprised to learn that it was considered essential, because going without grooming can lead some breeds to have problems like skin irritation or nails cutting into paw pads. Human hair salons, meanwhile, remain nonessential.
Cities are also combating rumors about how the stay-at-home order is being enforced.
“If somebody is out walking somewhere by themselves, we’re not going to bother anybody,” said Garden City Mayor John Evans by phone. “If they’re in their car headed somewhere, we’re not going to follow them. ...
“I’m not going to be out here on the golf course with a measuring tape to make sure people are 6 feet apart,” he said. “You have to let people take some responsibility.”
Idaho State Police agree.
“We are not stopping vehicles just to determine if they are in violation of the governor’s order,” wrote ISP spokeswoman Tecia Ferguson in an email. “We are still enforcing the traffic laws and removing impaired and other dangerous drivers from our roads.”
Some police departments are reallocating resources as their jobs focus more on compliance with social distancing orders.
In Nampa, Police Chief Joe Huff said he has rearranged officers’ shifts to ensure that they have four police officers on at all times “who can be rovers in the city” and check in on businesses. That allows “them to focus on responding to complaints and concerns we receive that deal with the stay-at-home order,” he said in a statement to the Statesman, though they have yet to write any citations for violators.
Enforcement varies amid jurisdictions
Thirty-eight states, including Idaho, are under mandatory stay-at-home orders. Enforcement varies widely not only between states, but from city to city.
In Georgia, the Department of Public Safety issued 18 citations to people violating the state’s shelter-in-place order after it took effect April 3. In Charlotte, North Carolina, police issued citations to two smoke shops and the craft chain Michael’s for operating non-essential businesses
In Marin County in California, officers issued parking tickets to people who drove to trailheads miles from home. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a few miles south, police are mostly relying on residents to voluntarily follow the order.
On top of complaints about fellow citizens, local leaders are hearing from citizens frustrated with the governor’s orders, who are eager to see life return to normal. But all Treasure Valley mayors have supported Little’s decision to extend the stay-at-home order.
“I’m urging… our residents to continue to follow the governor’s directive to stay at home so that we can go through this sooner rather than later,” Meridian Mayor Robert Simison said in a video posted Wednesday. “This is not business as usual.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
