Enduring the COVID-19 pandemic has left many plagued with anxiety, loss, confusion, and frustration. Many are out of work, losing family members, struggling to find child care as schools are closed, and mentally worn out from the coronavirus. It is taking a toll and has become out of control.
As a law enforcement officer in South Florida, my police department mandates all officers and employees to wear masks when we are in contact with anybody. This is strictly enforced and reiterated at the beginning of each shift by our supervisors. We have received training on the importance and effectiveness of facial masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We are assisted in understanding that by masking up, we are caring for others.
For me, COVID-19 is certainly something I do not want to contract. I don’t want to be sick. My younger sister and my brother-in-law fell ill and tested positive. The true quarantine coupled with a fever, aches, and loss of taste and smell for a week knocked them on their butt. Eventually, they lost their minds a little bit. However, I am confident in my health and immune system that just like they did, I would recover just fine if I happened to contract COVID-19. To be quite frank, masking up while wearing my glasses is a minor inconvenience. My lenses fog up like crazy!
I mask up on and off duty as a courtesy and out of respect for others. Not only is it my duty to protect others while on and off duty, but if I contract the virus, and go to work to help others and inadvertently pass it on, it could cost lives and I may never know the damage I did all because I chose to leave my mask in my car. I cannot even imagine that irony. I would be essentially doing more damage than good. As the numbers continue to rise, something must be done to stop COVID-19 in its tracks.
In my county in South Florida, we are currently under a government mandate to wear facial coverings. Sadly, still, even with the mandate, some do not listen. I have the authority to issue citations for a city ordinance, but I have not had to do so as of yet. Typically, if a business owner reports a customer refusing to wear a mask and thus, refusing to leave, the police do respond. On such occasions, I have had about a dozen conversations with civilians and how they feel that their rights are being infringed upon. The bottom line is that if they do not meet certain exceptions to not be wearing a mask inside a designated establishment, the business owner has the right to refuse service. I have, at the request of the business owner, issued trespass warnings. In my opinion, if you do not want to follow the CDC recommendations, county mandates, and city ordinances, just stay home.
I am appalled at the number of people who have stated that they do not wear a mask because they feel that they are young, healthy, and take their vitamin C. Although education on the virus (as much as is available at this time) is everywhere, I still feel that more is necessary for civilians to understand the importance of respecting and protecting others. In every situation, I have directed their thoughts and my recommendation to masking up to protect others. Maybe it is the uniform that helps to authoritatively educate others, but thus far, people have listened, or pretended to anyways.
Mask up, America!
