Darien Police: Hard To Arrest Violators of Governor's Order

DARIEN, IL — Darien's police chief said Monday it would be hard to arrest anyone for violating the governor's stay-at-home order. The order itself includes no enforcement mechanism.

"We don't want our officers making arrests that aren't appropriate," Police Chief Greg Thomas said in an interview Monday. "When they created the executive order, they didn't create a corresponding charge."

Some, the chief said, have suggested the state charge of reckless conduct could be used against those violating the governor's order, which bars gatherings and requires people stay at home unless going out for essential purposes.

"Reckless conduct is a person recklessly and knowingly causing bodily or endangering public safety of another person. How do you prove that? I would have to prove that the person knows he has a virus and transmits that virus to cause bodily harm to another."

Thomas said Darien has safety and nuisance ordinances, but he said those laws don't seem to apply to the governor's executive order.

He acknowledged the Aurora City Council's decision last week approving fines between $50 and $500 for disorderly conduct in relation to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order.

So far, Thomas said, Darien residents have been complying with officers when they ask them to disperse because of the order. But Thomas predicted the public's patience would wear thin over time, with people wanting to get back to work and see their children educated.

"Most people are compassionate," he said. "They'll go along with the program."

On Monday, the City Council is expected to review the police chief's monthly report, which includes a section about enforcing the governor's order.

"Voluntary compliance is nothing new. We practice it every day when we don’t take someone else’s property, when we don’t lay our hands on other people, etc.," Thomas writes in the report. "We ask that you continue that great practice of voluntary compliance."

Read more:

Pritzker Gathering Data Before Extending Stay-At-Home Order

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