As Oklahoma Reopens, Cities Shy Away from Enforcing Restrictions. NEWS

As Oklahoma Reopens, Cities Shy Away from Enforcing Restrictions

Police in some of Oklahoma’s largest cities are electing to use a softer touch, rather than aggressive enforcement, with state and local business restrictions as Oklahoma gradually reopens amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Scores of restaurants, retailers and offices have reopened their doors – or at l

east partially returned to pre-pandemic life – since Gov. Kevin Stitt and many cities or counties eased stay-at-home restrictions on May 1. More orders are set to topple later this week if the state sees enough encouraging data to enter the second reopening phase.

But current state and local orders or proclamations, which carry the weight of state laws or local ordinances, still spell out mandates for businesses to safely return to operations. They are paired with guidelines, such as urging employees to wear masks when interacting with customers, that aren’t enforceable unless local officials require more restrictions than what Stitt has ordered.

Among the current mandates are ones requiring dining, entertainment, gyms and places of worship to meet social distancing and sanitation protocols. recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Restaurants across the state, for example, must space tables six feet apart, increase cleaning of frequently touched surfaces and make hand sanitizer bottles available to customers, according to an Oklahoma State Department of Health document. These aren’t scheduled to go away until phase 3 starts on June 1, depending on infection trends.  

Oklahoma Watch requested details on COVID-19 related complaints and violations from local police, who are charged with enforcing the state and local requirements, in the state’s 10 largest cities.

Of the seven that responded, all said they are not proactively checking for violations and instead only respond to complaints. Police in Enid, Edmond and Midwest City did not immediately respond to questions Monday.

Each of the police departments that responded also said they either are not tracking the number of COVID-19 related calls and violations or have issued a relatively small number of violations. 

“We are not doing any proactive enforcement on this,” said Tulsa Police Department Lt. Richard Meulenberg. “If anything, we are just responding to calls from citizens who want us to let us know what is going on.”