San Franciscans are mostly cooperating with public-health orders, and police have not had to issue any recent citations to individuals gathering in Dolores Park or elsewhere for non-compliance with the orders, according to SFPD Chief William Scott.
In fact, during a summery weekend when there was widespread, anecdotal reports of crowding in SF's parks, Chief Scott says that no individuals were cited or formally warned, and by and large everyone with whom officers interacted with voluntarily complied with orders when they were spoken to.
Dolores Park fills up late Friday as health experts warn of the dangers https://t.co/gDmcKHX82X pic.twitter.com/w9lu7VQ4mL
— Mission Local (@MLNow) May 9, 2020
"We start with education," Scott said during a Monday press briefing, "then warnings or admonishment, and for those folks who refuse to abide by the orders, we have citations as a last resort."
He said that out of SFPD officers' 138 individuals engagements with individuals over the weekends, including admonishments and informal warnings if they were not masked or properly distanced from non-household members, everyone complied on the spot when spoken to. Officers also gave out 58 face masks to individuals who were not wearing them, he said.
Mayor London Breed, who last week threatened to close Dolores Park if people continued to crowd into it, did not make any mention of the issue in Monday's briefing.
When it comes to case counts and the cooperation of the public with sheltering orders, Scott said, "We are far better off than many other cities, and that's a good thing, and that's because of you all."
Some businesses have also have been cited for non-compliance with orders, but the number has remained small since the initial orders were given. Citations have tended not to come after first offenses, but a few have been issued on the spot after an initial offense, Scott said — but only 13 businesses in SF have been cited since the start of the pandemic, and only one additional business was cited last weekend.
"By and large we are seeing compliance from our business community," Scott said.
Also, since the pandemic began, the department has issued 105 formal warnings, a last warning before a citation, and 58 of those were issued to businesses.
Related: SF Finds 200 New COVID Cases In Five Days; More People Using CityTestSF Program
Photo from April 19 by Jaime San Felippo/Twitter