Since the COVID-19 outbreak, it has been an alarming trend to see Anaheim Police Department officers without face coverings and/or not staying a safe distance from others throughout the pandemic. This is a direct disregard for the state wide mandate Governor Newsom enacted on 6/18/2020. When calling to report the misconduct of the officers to the Police Department, I was told that a Sergeant would be returning my call to follow up on the incident. 

Sergeant Black of APD informed me via voicemail on 8/11/2020 that "If you have time you can go ahead and look at the California Department of Public Health and our officers are actually exempt from wearing masks." 

I took to checking the website of the California Department of Public Health's website and could not find anything exempting law enforcement from wearing masks. So I called their information line and was informed by a CDPH government employee that the only time a law enforcement officer would be exempt from wearing a mask would be if "the persons for whom wearing a face covering would create a risk for the person related to their work as determined by their federal work guidelines." 

Please sign and share, as a reminder to Anaheim Police Department that they are not exempt from federal mandates protecting the health of the general public. After all, aren't they meant to PROTECT and serve? 

For more information on the CDPH's legal guidelines for pandemic procedures, visit: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx