Mike Walker, DeWitt County Sheriff, issued a public statement regarding Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order and executive orders related to the COVID-19 crisis.
Walker posted the full text of the public statement to the DeWitt County Sheriff’s Facebook page on May 13, announcing that, while he will enforce the laws and protect the health, safety and welfare of the county and its citizens, he will not arrest individuals for failure to heed the recommendations in Pritzker’s executive order.
"[Let] me start out first in stating that I am very proud and applaud our DeWitt County citizens in their personal efforts and responsibility in keeping this virus out of this County at levels being experienced elsewhere. We have worked together as responsible citizens in keeping this pandemic at bay and out of our homes. The more we do as individual citizens in practicing safe and responsible distancing, the sooner this plague will end," Walker said.
"Second, I will continue to do and perform as I was initially elected to: protecting the health, safety and welfare of our county and its citizens. If anyone violates a criminal law, they will be arrested. If anyone commits a "trespass" to property or an "assault" upon another, they will be arrested. I was elected to enforce the laws and will continue to enforce the laws. However, an "executive order" by the Governor is NOT THE LAW of the land. That requires our elected representatives in the state legislature to act upon in order to enforce."
Walker’s reaction is not unlike the reaction of some others in the state – residents and law enforcement personnel alike. In his press release, he noted that he would enforce laws when broken, but heralded the importance of individual choice, saying that choosing not to follow an executive order was an individual decision, not a criminal violation.
"I will enforce the laws when they are violated but I will not arrest for a failure to heed a recommendation on how to act whether in a business or out in the general public. If you do not want to protect yourself and not practice safe distancing or wearing of mask, that is your individual decision. It may not be the right one, it may not be the responsible one, but last time I checked there is no 'escape clause' in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights allowing for suspension of our constitutional rights when there is a virus plaguing us," said Walker. “My office will get involved when that individual decision to not follow interferes with or poses a clear and present danger to the health, safety and welfare of fellow citizens, I will act!"
He did note that when a private establishment asks a patron to put on a mask and the individual refuses, he will act. Removing a mask and sneezing in someone’s face could end in arrest. But choosing not to wear a mask in public? That’s a choice, not a legal issue, said Walker.
“[Keep] your individual decisions to yourself and your fine but make others pay for it then it becomes crossing that line and jeopardizing the public. Be mindful of your neighbors, be mindful of your friends and above all be mindful of the senior citizen community within DeWitt County. I will respect your individual decisions so long as you respect theirs. We owe a greater sense of responsibility in our actions when they touch or approach our senior citizen community. I maintain a very thin, very minute thin line when it comes to protection of our seniors,” he said. “There, I will act first and question later so as to not jeopardize your senior citizens. They deserve all the respect we can muster in this time of concern. We must work together as one community circling our wagons to protect all citizens of DeWitt County.”
"Be safe and be cautious," Sheriff Walker said.
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