Shutdowns spur outbreak of snitching by residents
OAK PARK, Ill. — One Tulsa, Oklahoma, bar owner said more than a dozen mo t o rc yc l i st s showed up unannounced, but he served them a round of shots anyway to celebrate a birthday. Another livestreamed a drag queen show on Facebook while up to 20 people drank inside the locked bar, ignoring police when they knocked on the door.
Both were busted — and received misdemeanor citations and court dates — after police responded to tips that the bars were violating the mayor’s order shuttering all nonessential businesses to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“There has to be some consequence for violating an executive order,” said Tulsa Police Lt. Richard Meulenberg.
Snitches are emerging as enthusiastic allies as cities, states and countries work to enforce directives meant to limit person-to-person contact amid the virus pandemic that has claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide. They’re phoning police and municipal hotlines, complaining to elected officials and shaming perceived scofflaws on social media.
In hard-hit New York City, police arrested the owner of an illegal Brooklyn speak-easy where a dozen people were found drinking and gambling after someone phoned in a tip.
In Chicago, a yoga studio that believed it qualified as an essential health and wellness service was closed after the city — tipped off by several residents — disagreed. Teacher Naveed Abidi of Bikram Yoga West Loop studio said he thought the studio could remain open if the space was sanitized, class size limited and students stayed far enough apart.
“If we were naughty with the government’s order, then we’re very, very sorry” said Abidi, who faces a fine of up to $10,000. “We’re not here to cause problems, we’re here to practice our poses.”
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 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 people and fined over 230,000 for violating quarantine orders.
In one viral video, the person recording it is heard criticizing a woman who decides to go for a jog and resists police orders to produce her ID card. Another shows a family heading to a supermarket carrying a scooter for one of their children while several neighbors yell at them from the window.