Social Distancing & Enforcement

Photo Credit: Herman Delgado

Social distancing is only as good as the enforcement behind it.

I saw a story on KVIA last night that stated that there have been thousands of complaints about businesses and residents not adhering to social distancing - but that only 8 citations have been given out by the City of El Paso.

Well no wonder you're having a hard time getting the public to comply - if you're telling the public to adhere to social distancing standards and then received complaints from thousands of El Pasoans looking out for their fellow Paseños by reporting violations - and then you only issue 8 citations - then you're sending out the message that social distancing ain't all that important to you.

Seriously, the fact that there have been over 4,000 complaints about non-compliance with social distancing orders but only 8 citations being issues SHOULD BE THE STORY! Policy makers should be asking why there are so many complaints ands so few actual citations issued.

No one is saying that the city needs to come down on people with draconian measures, but seriously if you only give out 8 citations out of over 4,000 complaints, its hard to take the orders seriously. Its not like people are unaware of the fact that they have to practice social distancing. At this point, there is NO WAY people don't know that they need to stay home, that gatherings are supposed to be off limits, etc.

But call centers are still open. People are still going grocery shopping as couples or entire families, instead of just one person at a time.

The reality is that people that don't take this seriously are screwing you and I over. We all want to get back to normal. We all want to get back to work and see our families again. Good Lord knows we all want to be able to open up bars, restaurants, barbers, salons, etc again.

But there are always those people that think the rules don't apply to them. That think they are more important than you and put us all at jeopardy. Here's a link to another story by KVIA in which my buddy Herman actually caught people in the act of holding gatherings at their homes over the Easter holiday.

Policy makers need to make compliance with the shelter in place orders a priority.

Stay tuned, because there is a second part to this post.