Naugatuck, Connecticut, resident Gwen Becker
said she was “mortified” when she drove by a
golf course and saw a crowd gathered around
a food truck and eating at tables together.
So she took a video that her friend posted on
Facebook — prompting the mayor to shut
down the course.
“I was angry and upset, and I threw some
f-bombs,” said Becker, 54. “You’re not going
to consider that what you’re doing could
kill somebody?”
In some places, investigators are patrolling the
streets, looking for violators.
A team enforcing Denver’s shelter-in-place
order issued five citations — including to
Hobby Lobby and a Game Stop franchise that
claimed it was essential — and more than 600
warnings to businesses and individuals as of
Tuesday, city spokesman Alton Dillard said. The
team also patrols neighborhoods, parks and
recreation areas.
In Newark, New Jersey, police shut down 15
businesses in one night and cited 161 people
for violating the governor’s restrictions, saying
others would be next if they didn’t heed
directives. And Maryland State Police said they’d
conducted nearly 6,600 business and crowd
compliance checks.
Chicago police even disbanded a funeral Sunday
after seeing a group of up to 60 people, many
elderly, congregating inside a church, police
spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
In some cases, residents are turning on neighbors.
Police in Spain — sometimes aided by videos
and photos posted online by zealous residents,
or “balcony police” — have arrested nearly 2,000