DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – On the first day of an order from Governor J.B. Pritzker requiring the use of face coverings in public, the Decatur Police Department had to play mediator to a dispute between a gas station customer and employee about the use of a mask in a local store.
"They were told to wear a mask and there ended up being a disagreement that the Decatur Police Department had to respond to,” Deputy City Manager John Kindseth told WAND News.
Kindseth did not provide the location of the store, or what action police had to take, but did say a business can refuse service to someone not wearing a mask, and a person not following the governor’s order who refuses to leave the business can be arrested or ticketed for trespassing.
"We want people to do the right thing,” Kindseth said. “A business has the right, and I would say in the particular time, the responsibility because of the Governor's order, they need to enforce the mask."
During a news conference on Friday, the governor told the media enforcement of face covering usage is being left up to individual communities.
WAND News has reached out to DPD for comment, and has not heard back yet.
Kindseth said the city is hoping that citizens will use common sense and wear face masks in public. He said while the city did remove an agenda item creating an ordinance fining people for not wearing face masks in public, the option still exists if the public does not follow the governor's order.
