One day after Broward County Commissioner and vice mayor Steve Geller warned that “stupid people” disobeying social distancing and mask requirements might force the county to shut down again, Broward County sheriff Gregory Tony announced on Friday that he would be stepping up enforcement of things like illegal parties.
“We are running out of [hospital] bed space because all of these stupid people who insist it’s nothing worst than the flu are wrong,” Geller said “The flu doesn’t fill our intensive-care units.”
Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said his office will “take a much more aggressive stance” when it comes to policing parties, specifically house parties.
Police responding to complaints for parties and noise complaints will no longer be writing warnings, they will be handing out costly tickets. If that doesn’t work, Tony said, he might introduce a curfew, perhaps even a curfew targeting the young partiers mostly responsible for spreading the virus in the state (it’s median infection age remains just under 40).
Tony added that he doesn’t want to implement a curfew, and thanked all of the “many good people…following the rules” for their service.
But unfortunately, the virus isn’t the only reason for Tony to step up enforcement and police presence out in public. The county has suffered an “increase in crime,” including crime from large gatherings, as the main reason for ramping up policing.