[Genuine Realist]

California claims that seat belt compliance went from 92.5% in 2005 to 95.9% in 2018 (reducing non-compliance by 45%), partly due to "Click It or Ticket" and $160 fines.  We've had seat belts for more than 50 years, and it has been a long time getting people to see the need for them.  One difference is that your use of a seat belt protects only you.  Your use of a face mask protects you AND others.  

I am extremely disappointed and shocked in seeing the statement by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department that they consider this an offen se of a "minor nature".   They refer to the state's order as a "recommendation".

In 3 months, the US has suffered more than three times as many deaths from COVID-19 as from automobile accidents for all of 2018 (ie, 12 times the rate of traffic fatalities).   Maybe the Sacramento Sheriff's Office should stop enforcing traffic laws too, since, in comparison, traffic deaths are so much less than those caused by offenses of a minor nature.

You simply can't do this in the present political environment. The attempt in Texas and Minnesota to punish black market beauty shop operators led to a national scandal.

In New York, a non-compliant  and resistant African-American mother led to a fracas of exactly the type the NYPD is trying to avoid, and a $10 million dollar lawsuit. As near as I can tell, the mother was dead wrong, but that doesn't change the publicity.

More than that, there are significant racial disparities alleged in the enforcement of these provisions. The NYT, never one to miss a racial agenda, is of course hot off the mark - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/nyreg...virus.html

Racist police? The actual fact of the NYPD is that it is no longer Irish - it's actually over 50$ POC, about 20% African-American, 30% Hispanic, [approximately matching the NY demographics in both cases] and a smattering  of other non-Caucasian ethnicities pushing the percentage up. In view of this, my own view is that the citation imbalance bluntly reflects non-compliance in those communities rather than any selective enforcement by the officers. Search me as to why that would be, but I'd bet on the community non-compliance rather than racism, given the makeup of the Department.

But what beat cop wants to go near these issues? No one, really. If you issue a summons and someone tears it up, or refuses to sign it [the promise to appear], what are you going to do? The statutory alternative is to arrest. Most motorists are not aware that a traffic cop has an arrest power in a traffic stop situation, if the id seems suspect or the driver refuses to accept the citation. That's rarely used with traffic stops, which are fairly serious infractions. No way anyone is going to do it with a mask violation, in an urban setting,with a mess of phone cameras all around. Who needs it?

Look elsewhere for effective enforcement. Criminal sanctions are a practical impossibility.

[Genuine Realist]

California claims that seat belt compliance went from 92.5% in 2005 to 95.9% in 2018 (reducing non-compliance by 45%), partly due to "Click It or Ticket" and $160 fines.  We've had seat belts for more than 50 years, and it has been a long time getting people to see the need for them.  One difference is that your use of a seat belt protects only you.  Your use of a face mask protects you AND others.  

I am extremely disappointed and shocked in seeing the statement by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department that they consider this an offen se of a "minor nature".   They refer to the state's order as a "recommendation".

In 3 months, the US has suffered more than three times as many deaths from COVID-19 as from automobile accidents for all of 2018 (ie, 12 times the rate of traffic fatalities).   Maybe the Sacramento Sheriff's Office should stop enforcing traffic laws too, since, in comparison, traffic deaths are so much less than those caused by offenses of a minor nature.

You simply can't do this in the present political environment. The attempt in Texas and Minnesota to punish black market beauty shop operators led to a national scandal.

In New York, a non-compliant  and resistant African-American mother led to a fracas of exactly the type the NYPD is trying to avoid, and a $10 million dollar lawsuit. As near as I can tell, the mother was dead wrong, but that doesn't change the publicity.

More than that, there are significant racial disparities alleged in the enforcement of these provisions. The NYT, never one to miss a racial agenda, is of course hot off the mark - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/nyreg...virus.html

Racist police? The actual fact of the NYPD is that it is no longer Irish - it's actually over 50$ POC, about 20% African-American, 30% Hispanic, [approximately matching the NY demographics in both cases] and a smattering  of other non-Caucasian ethnicities pushing the percentage up. In view of this, my own view is that the citation imbalance bluntly reflects non-compliance in those communities rather than any selective enforcement by the officers. Search me as to why that would be, but I'd bet on the community non-compliance rather than racism, given the makeup of the Department.

But what beat cop wants to go near these issues? No one, really. If you issue a summons and someone tears it up, or refuses to sign it [the promise to appear], what are you going to do? The statutory alternative is to arrest. Most motorists are not aware that a traffic cop has an arrest power in a traffic stop situation, if the id seems suspect or the driver refuses to accept the citation. That's rarely used with traffic stops, which are fairly serious infractions. No way anyone is going to do it with a mask violation, in an urban setting,with a mess of phone cameras all around. Who needs it?

Look elsewhere for effective enforcement. Criminal sanctions are a practical impossibility.