DC mayor says she won’t enforce stay-at-home order with heavy hand

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said Tuesday that the city is unlikely to make arrests to enforce the stay-at-home order she has imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We don’t expect that we will have to issue any fines and jail penalties, because we expect the people of the District of Columbia to comply,” Bowser said at a press briefing. “We do of course have penalties at our disposal, but I don’t expect we will have to use them. That’s certainly my hope.”

“The point is not to arrest anybody, the point is for people to stay at home,” Bowser added, saying officers will use loudspeakers and a script to enforce the order, which goes into effect at midnight Tuesday, if they encounter large groups of people in public.

The mayor referred to full guidelines made available online and said that police will “rely on people to do what is right for themselves, their friends, their family, for nurses, doctors, first responders and our city.”

Asked if the police would disperse basketball games, Bowser told reporters they would, adding “it violates the rules about exercising in groups.”

“The only reasons you should be leaving your home are the following: obtain medical care, food and essential household goods, perform an essential government function, work at an essential job, engage in essential travel or to exercise according to guidelines,” Bowser said.

Bowser also said the district would begin releasing coronavirus data in the morning rather than the evening “so that we can provide a more complete picture of the previous day.” The data will be sorted by age group, sex and ward, the mayor added.

The city had previously reported data at 7 p.m., with officials reporting a total of 495 cases in the District as of Monday evening.