Annotating of Sheriff Villanueva’s refusal to enforce public health mandate
I’ve footnoted all of the problematic statement’s in LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s statement from July 16 in which he announced that his department will refuse to enforce the law. (TL:DR: All the statements are problematic.)
Forcing the vaccinated1 and those who already contracted COVID-192 to wear masks indoors is not backed by science3 and contradicts the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.4 5 The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) has authority to enforce the order, but the underfunded/defunded6 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will not expend our limited resources7 and instead ask for voluntary compliance.8 We encourage the DPH to work collaboratively with the Board of Supervisors and law enforcement to establish mandates that are both achievable and supported by science.9