State’s beefed up mask requirement comes with enforcement difficulties

Facing potential $100 fine, businesses under increased pressure to police patrons without face coverings

The governor’s decision this week to issue a $100 fine to anyone flouting her face-covering rule raises the question of how the order will be enforced.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued the stricter mask-wearing rule and penalty Wednesday in response to a recent surge in COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in states surrounding New Mexico and a rise in cases here.

The mask rule is no longer limited to individuals out on the street. A business can be fined $100 for every patron without masks on its premises.

“Enforcement with fines was not the route we wanted to go down,” said Nora Meyers Sackett, a spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office. “We tried other avenues first, but New Mexicans are still failing to grasp the critical importance of wearing a face mask when in public.”

The governor suggested enforcement would be stepped up, beginning during the Fourth of July weekend, when more residents likely will be active and more travelers are expected to visit from other states.

New Mexico State Police, the main agency enforcing the state’s emergency public health orders, did not respond to questions Thursday on how it might boost enforcement of the tougher mask rule.

Local law enforcement agencies said they will continue to defer to the state police on the governor’s orders.

Santa Fe police spokesman Greg Gurulé said officers will follow current procedures in enforcing a separate face mask ordinance passed by the City Council, in which violators could face a fine of up to $50.

“If we see someone without a mask, we’ll give them a warning,” Gurulé said. “After that, if it happens again, then they get cited.”

People who are caught in public without a face covering outside Santa Fe city limits will be asked to don one, but they won’t be cited, said Juan Ríos, a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff ’s Office.

“We’ll be issuing warnings and advising people to comply,” Ríos said. “The sheriff ’s approach has always been to inform and educate.”

Sackett said all local law enforcement agencies have the power to enforce a public health order.

“And they should enforce it,” she said. Adhering to a health order is crucial in protecting their communities, she added, which is their mission.

Sackett noted the governor likened mask rules to seat belt laws.

“Would you assume that only state police would enforce that?” she asked.

The new mandate puts businesses in the role of enforcers, to some extent.

A business owner in Santa Fe said he agreed with the state imposing fines to encourage mask-wearing.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Rick C de Baca, co-owner of Big Jo True Value Hardware. “We’ve been very strict on that since the beginning. I want to protect my employees and the customers.”

As an essential business, the store is busy, so he can’t afford to have workers out for weeks with COVID-19, C de Baca said. Plus, he doesn’t want to risk catching the virus and spreading it to his elderly parents, he said.

Director Dustin Belyeu said Nedra Matteucci Galleries has a strict face mask policy. “We don’t allow anybody to come in here without a mask and we haven’t had a problem with it,” he said.

A few customers have come in with no masks and realized they’d left them in the car, Belyeu said, and they retrieve them with no quarrel. Occasionally workers will catch people who slip their masks to their chins. They ask them to wear their masks properly. “But again, no pushback,” Belyeu said. Family Dollar, a Santa Fe discount store, sees recalcitrant patrons who flat-out refuse to wear masks, making rigid enforcement challenging, one manager said.

“It’s reasonable,” said Eric Martinez, an assistant manager, referring to the new rule and fines. “Is it realistic? I would say no. It makes it a little hard on our end.”

Some people have legitimate health conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask, Martinez said. Others are rebellious and will claim their rights are being violated, or they’ll spout conspiracy theories about masks and say the virus is a hoax, he said.

A few get belligerent and call store employees sheep for wearing masks, Martinez said.

Some quietly walk in with no masks and shop until being told to leave.

The threat of fines will force the store to be more uncompromising, he said.

“You always have those groups of people who don’t want to conform or help out,” Martinez said.