Covid-19
Kent leaves mask law enforcement to business owners
Kent police said they will not enforce the ordinance, and the Kent Health Department can’t write tickets
By Gina Butkovich
News Lab
Passing a mask ordinance in Kent was easy, with city council voting almost unanimously to approve it last night. But enforcing it may be more difficult.
The Kent Health Department can’t write tickets, and the police department said it will not enforce the ordinance. Law enforcement will effectively fall on local business owners, who have the right to refuse service to people who don’t wear face coverings.
“We are not enforcing it as the police department,” said Lt. Mike Lewis, Kent Police Department spokesman. “We certainly support the Kent Health Department and their mission of keeping everybody safe and healthy. But that being said, we are not going to be filing criminal charges against anybody for not wearing a mask.”
The ordinance requires people to wear face coverings in any place accessible to the public, including outdoor areas where six-feet distancing is not possible. In restaurants, masks are required when not at a table. Children under 5 should not wear masks, and there are some exemptions, including for those with medical issues or while “strenuously exercising.” The Kent Health Department has issued guidelines on its website.
During the council meeting, Seidel indicated the city would establish a hotline to report people who violate the ordinance, but currently the health department is “moving towards a web-based solution.”
Even as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has yet to make a statewide mask mandate, the Kent City Health Department helped create one for the city in an attempt to control the spread and prevent a surge of new coronavirus cases.
“I feel we are on the cusp of a surge of new cases, and I feel we still have time to control it and prevent it from happening,” said Health Commissioner Joan Seidel in an email. “I also know in public health the best response is to intervene before a problem is too unwieldy, so it is about prevention.”
Even if there were to be a statewide mandate, it’s still unlikely the police department would file criminal charges against citizens who don’t wear a mask.
“A lot of police departments have taken this stance,” Lewis said. “It’s not an uncommon response from law enforcement. It’s a very difficult situation to get into. And we’re often asked to do a lot. This is probably not something that police are going to get terribly involved in.”
Neighboring Franklin Township trustees voted Tuesday to enact a resolution mirroring Kent’s mask ordinance. But the township will not be enforcing the law, either.
“Everybody’s dancing on that one,” Township Administrator Ken Penix said regarding enforcement. “In terms of Franklin Township, we’ve said that we will not ask the Portage County Sheriff’s Office to enforce the resolution. Our intent is that we want our residents to be safe. We want them to follow it. But we are not having any punitive or any enforcement repercussions. … We really want people to do it, but quite honestly we don’t have the resources to do the enforcement.”
One situation in which the Kent police would intervene is if a business asks a customer to leave for not wearing a mask but the person refuses. In that case, Lewis said, the business owner may call the police to report criminal trespassing.
“These are private businesses, they have the lawful right to refuse service to anyone,” Lewis said. “So just as they can require that you wear shirts and shoes for service, or even if you’re a licensed CCW [carrying a concealed weapon] permit holder, they still have the right to tell you not to bring a firearm into their business. They also have the right to tell you that you must wear masks.”
Council member Gwen Rosenberg, owner of Popped! in downtown Kent, voted for the mask mandate but said during the meeting that employees in her store do not confront customers who do not wear a mask. Instead, she said they rely on residents to understand the importance of masks and if someone comes in without a mask they will probably “get them served and get them out as fast as we can.”
For people who refuse to wear a mask, Seidel asks them to “consider the science and consider others, as well as realize businesses are private property.”
“Wearing masks will help keep businesses open,” Seidel said in her email. “People can maintain their opinions and still easily wear a mask that will protect them and others. During a global pandemic we not only have rights, we have responsibilities. Part of those responsibilities are to our community. The responsible action is to do what keeps the community safe and the economy moving forward, those are intertwined.”
Ben Wolford contributed reporting. This article was produced through a reporting partnership with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University.
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