Sheriff orders his deputies not to wear masks
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said the purpose of his order was to improve communication with the public.
When the sheriff in Marion County 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 was less about the efficacy of masks in stopping the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 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.
Marion County, which has about 365,000 people, has not been hit as hard as some other places in the state but has had 6,798 cases and 104 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.
The sheriff’s order made exceptions for officers at the county courthouse, in jails and in public schools — but he made clear that he was not convinced they were necessary.
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 facecovering 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 masks inside businesses.
Woods said visitors to his offices would be asked to remove their masks. If they refuse, Woods said, they will be asked to leave.