City of Alamosa issued the following announcement on July 24.
The City of Alamosa has received several inquiries regarding the enforcement of the Governor’s Orders during COVID-19. Given the amount of misinformation floating around in our community, it is vital that we are clear on this topic.
The Governor’s Orders are enforceable and it is the City’s hope that businesses and residents will make every effort to comply with those orders.
The City will continue to work in partnership with Alamosa County Public Health on education related to those orders. We realize that there can be a lot of information contained in the orders and with so many orders coming out; the changing environment can be very confusing. Please know that these educational attempts are intended to help clarify what is expected and not written in an accusatory or demanding way.
The City does not have the ability to have law enforcement patrolling looking for violations. Our Police Officers have a significant call volume. However, if the City is made aware of a potential violation or if we receive information from a concerned resident about a potential violation, we will uphold our professional obligation to look into the concern. Our hope is that a simple conversation will help to correct the situation, if a correction is needed. In the case of a potential business not complying with the orders, if this conversation does not fix the compliance issue, the officer can issue a summons to Municipal Court for reckless endangerment. If the situation is a customer who is refusing to wear a mask or leave the business, the officer can issue a summons for either reckless endangerment or trespassing.
We cannot stress enough that the issuance of a summons into Municipal Court is the last resort after conversations have failed to correct the non-compliance. This is not what our officers want to be doing and it is not what City Council wants to have officers spend their time on. It is our hope that while it is clear that not everyone agrees with the orders, our community can come together and comply with them so that there is no need for enforcement.
Original source can be found here.
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