Police advice on black people wearing face coverings during the coronavirus pandemic

During the past several years we’ve all read news media reports of black people engaged in routine activities getting jacked up by cops for Driving While Black, Walking While Black, Napping While Black, even going to Starbucks While Black.

In this Age of Coronavirus some black people are reluctant to follow the Centers for Disease Control Advice to wear a mask or face covering in public. They fear being racially profiled as a criminal and reported to police.

Some white people may think this fear is foolish. But through learned experience black people know any time police roll up there’s no telling what will happen.

We shared this concern with police. Here’s the response from a spokeswoman at the Orlando Police Department:

“The Orlando Police Department recommends all of its residents to continue following CDC guidelines put in place to help flatten the curve and prevent the spread of COVID19, including the recent recommendation to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.

“The Department continues in its ongoing effort to educate all citizens about all recommended guidelines, including recent Curfew Orders and Stay-at-Home Orders executed by County and State Government, as part of ongoing prevention efforts.

“All law enforcement officers are expected to exercise good judgment when enforcement action is to be taken. On average, officers across the nation interact with citizens more than 70 million times a year.  Most of the encounters are positive, and they can vary in many ways.  We strive to earn the trust of the community we serve.  We have an average of more than 500 thousand contacts with citizens each year with the overwhelming majority of those contacts being positive. We do not have any concerns for how our officers will handle a similar situation if it occurs in our community.

“Must also note, officers are often called by a property representative to address these types of issues. Officers do not proactively patrol grocery stores unless called to address a citizen complaint.”

Your thoughts?