Florida sheriff tells deputies not to wear masks on duty

Order aims to improve communication with public, Republican says

When the sheriff in Marion County, Fla., wrote an email to his deputies this week about a new mask order, he expected there would be complaints. “I can already hear the whining,” Sheriff Billy Woods wrote, noting that he did not make the decision “easily.” And at a time when more states and cities are requiring face coverings, Woods’ decision was unusual — he forbade his deputies from wearing masks while on duty, with some exceptions, and barred visitors to his offices from wearing them.

Woods said the purpose of his order, which was first reported by the Ocala Star-Banner, was less about the efficacy of masks in stopping the spread of the coronavirus than about improving communication with the public.

He wrote that “in light of the current events when it comes to the sentiment and/or hatred toward law enforcement,” an apparent reference to nationwide protests over police brutality this summer, that it would be better if officers’ voices were not muffled behind masks and that citizens’ faces were not obscured.

Public health officials across the world now agree that wearing a face covering in public is crucial to slowing the spread of the virus. In the U.S., many localities that initially resisted imposing mask mandates changed course after virus cases started to soar over the summer and now require them.

But Woods, a Republican who was elected in 2016 and participated in a phone call between law enforcement and President Donald Trump on Tuesday, was not swayed by the scientific consensus.

“We can debate and argue all day of why and why not,” he wrote. “The fact is, the amount of professionals that give the reason why we should, I can find the exact same amount of professionals that say why we shouldn’t.”

Marion County, a Central Florida county that is home to about 365,000 people, has not been hit as hard as some other places in the state but has had 6,798 cases and104 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The county added about 176 new cases and four new deaths per day, on average, in the seven days ending Tuesday.

There remain deep divisions in the U.S. over mask wearing, often rooted in partisan politics. Some people resent being told to wear masks, and others resent people’s refusal to wear them.

In Marion County, the sheriff’s order came amid a fight over a mask order in the county’s largest city, Ocala, which put a face-covering ordinance in place last week, only to have it vetoed Monday by the city’s mayor, Kent Guinn.

But his veto was overruled Wednesday by the City Council, which upheld the emergency ordinance requiring face masks inside of businesses.

Local reaction to the mask orders has been mixed. “Good luck making me,” one Facebook user wrote on a City Council post about restoring the ordinance Wednesday.

But Amber Gibbs, a Marion County resident who described the situation as “a kind of mask war,” said decisions like those made by Woods were sending “the wrong message.”

“I don’t feel safe at all when our leaders are promoting antiscience,” she said. “That’s why we’re staying home for the most part.”

Still, Woods said that visitors to his offices would be asked to remove their masks. If they refuse, Woods said, they will be asked to leave.

The sheriff ended his email on a strict tone of enforcement: “My orders will be followed or my actions will be swift to address.”

“We can debate and argue all day of why and why not.”

BILLY WOODS MARION COUNTY SHERIFF