New Castle Steps Up Patrols, Enforcement to Fight Social Distancing Violators
New Castle officials are vowing to crack down on residents who violate social distancing protocols following at least 19 cases of COVID-19 that were traced to the recent Horace Greeley High School graduation.
Town Supervisor Ivy Pool said Wednesday the police department plans to step up enforcement of the protocols, particularly since there have been numerous complaints about gatherings both on private property and in public spaces. Complaints continued to be received by police last weekend and into early this week even after news broke of the COVID-19 cluster from the June 20 graduation and a post-ceremony event, she said.
“Should we be unable to get voluntary compliance, should it escalate to a point where we need to start writing tickets and issuing summonses, we’re not afraid to do that because we’re absolutely serious about getting this problem under control in our town,” Pool said.
As of Wednesday, the town had not issued any summonses to the public since the start of the pandemic but that could change, Pool said.
Late Monday, Police Chief James Carroll sent out a Nixle alert to town residents urging them to follow social distancing and warning citizens that failure to comply could result in criminal or civil charges.
Carroll stated that the department has increased patrols since the graduation and will do what it takes to ensure public safety.
“While the overwhelming majority of residents are compliant, we are increasing our social distancing enforcement based on recent activity in town,” he said. “I have added additional officers strictly for this purpose. If we see a social distancing violation or an actionable one is reported to us, we will investigate and address it.”
Offenders could be charged with a violation of Health Law (PBH § 12-B), a criminal misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $10,000 for a first-time violation and/or up to one year in jail; violation of Health Law (PBH § 12), a civil violation, which carries a $2,000 fine for a first-time violation and $5,000 for repeat violations; non-essential gatherings, a civil violation carrying a maximum fine of $1,000 for each violation; and disorderly conduct, a criminal violation that is punishable by up to a $250 fine and 15 days in jail.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has continually urged local governments to enforce his executive orders in hopes limiting clusters similar to the one in Chappaqua.
Earlier this week, New Castle Police Lt. James Dumser said that during the Greeley graduation ceremony the two officers on hand had urged Chappaqua school officials to make an announcement once they spotted attendees failing to observe social distancing. Those officers are in quarantine.
Anyone who attended the graduation or the non-sanctioned event following the ceremony is required to remain quarantined until this Sunday, July 5 whether or not they tested positive.
On Tuesday, Pleasantville Superintendent of Schools Mary Fox-Alter confirmed that three Pleasantville students who were with Chappaqua students or attended non-sanctioned school gatherings tested positive for COVID-19. One of the students attended last Friday’s Pleasantville High School graduation and later tested positive for the virus.
During the June 26 graduation that student followed all protocols and work a mask, Fox-Alter said.
Pool said the enforcement is needed in town not only in the interests of public health and safety but because there are residents who are affected yet followed all of the protocols on June 20.
“We’ve got families who are quarantined in their home who did follow the guidelines, who did stay in their cars, who did everything right and they’re quarantined and that’s not fair,” Pool said. “We have to take some action and we’re going to.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/