LA County Sheriff Announces Crackdown On 'Super-Spreader Events'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Sheriff's deputies will begin enforcing Los Angeles County public health orders at large gatherings, authorities announced Thursday.
Sheriff Alex Villanuva said in addition to ongoing "education and voluntary compliance" efforts, the department would begin "conducting targeted enforcement on super-spreader events."
The Sheriff''s Department did not offer any additional details.
When Newsom announced a more limited stay-at-home order last month, Villanueva responded at that time with a similar statement that said "we have focused on education and voluntary compliance, with criminal enforcement measures being an extreme last resort."
"We trust in the community and rely on people to assess risk and take precautions as appropriate," Villanueva added.
Villanueva's statement Thursday followed an announcement from California Gov. Gavin Newsom about stricter stay-at-home rules being implemented in the event that Southern California or other state regions fall below 15% ICU capacity.
Speaking specifically on enforcement, Newsom indicated he would withhold state funding from counties which refused to enforce the rules if and when they may take effect.
"We have dollars that are set aside specifically to address this pandemic. And we made the point," Newsom said. "If you're unwilling to enforce the rules, if you're unwilling to adopt the protocols, uh, to support the mitigation, uh, and the reduction in the spread of this disease, we're happy to redirect those dollars to counties that feel differently."
