Santa Cruz County Officers Step Up Stay-At-Home Enforcement

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Law enforcement officials across Santa Cruz County have called on all members of the public to comply with the county shelter-in-place order and state stay-at-home order.

The call for compliance came in a Tuesday letter signed by the Santa Cruz Law Enforcement Chief's Association, a coalition of the top cops in all local law enforcement organizations.

“While we don’t want to resort to citations or arrests, if we don’t see people take this seriously, we’ll have to," said Sheriff Jim Hart in the letter.

Hart said most people are complying, but officials wrote that they receive dozens of calls daily that non-essential businesses continue to operate and people gather in groups.

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Violating the county or state orders is a misdemeanor that could come with a fine and/or jail time, the chiefs said.

Officers will first try to get voluntary compliance, but will enforce the laws.

Read the letter here:

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