Riverside County Sheriff discusses order enforcement on Fox News
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco appeared on Fox & Friends on Friday morning to discuss his refusal to enforce the county's stay-at-home orders.
"From the beginning, I told you that I would not be enforcing the stay-at-home order partly because I trusted our residents' ability to do the right thing without the fear of being arrested," Sheriff Bianco told county supervisors on Tuesday. "I refuse to make criminals out of business owners, single moms, and otherwise healthy individuals for exercising their constitutional rights.
On Friday, Bianco said he felt he needed to let the Supervisors know of his opinion before they voted on whether or not to revoke the county orders.
"Our situation is that we are in here, it is nothing like they told us it was going to be in the beginning. It's time to get back opening up our businesses and letting people do what our normal business activities are," Bianco told host Steve Doocy. "You can't arrest somebody for going out and exercising in public or not wearing a mask. You know at the same time, they're trying to force me to release real criminals from jail, they want me to make criminals out of law-abiding citizens that are trying to support a family. It doesn't make sense anymore."
Bianco also talked about his feeling towards government officials getting to decide what job is "essential" and which "non-essential." Bianco says he believes every job is essential to somebody.
"My job certainly is essential, but so is the job that is putting food on somebody's table," Bianco said. "The government should not be picking and choosing who gets to open it doesn't make sense."
Sheriff Bianco says reaction to his speech at Tuesday's board meeting has been largely positive.
Sheriff Bianco has publicly expressed his opinion on enforcing the county orders since they were first issued. Bianco has taken to social media and asked residents to follow the orders even if they won't be enforced and take into account the health of others.
Bianco has also previously expressed that it wasn't possible for the Sheriff's Department to enforce that nonessential businesses stay closed during the stay-at-home order.
"I've got to be honest with you," Bianco said. "There's no way for law enforcement to enforce those. We can do what we can, if we're not busy, but we have to prioritize those compared to our normal response."
Watch: This is how valley cities are enforcing non-essential business closures
As of May 8, 2020, Riverside County has recorded 4,817 positive coronavirus cases with 2,480 recoveries and 204 deaths.
Riverside County, There have been 160 confirmed positive cases in Riverside County jails with 120 recoveries and 2 deaths.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that the Sheriff’s Department wasn't doing enough to protect inmates from coronavirus
"These are people who are in these very small spaces, very crowded in together," Norman said. "Many are elderly, many have preexisting medical conditions – they're really vulnerable to getting seriously ill or dying from the virus."
In response to the ruling, Bianco said jail populations are at historic lows and that department is already doing everything they can to keep people healthy inside county jails.
"We have more than enough space to isolate and quarantine infected inmates," Bianco said. "These inmates receive excellent treatment and have greater access to medical care more readily than most of you who are not in jail."
Two Riverside County Sheriff deputies have died of coronavirus as well. Deputy Terrell Young who was most recently assigned at Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and Deputy David Werksman, who was most recently assigned to Sheriff’s Administration.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is currently discussing whether to remove the county orders, which includes mandatory face covering and social distance guidelines.
We'll have the latest on the county's decision tonight at 10 p.m. on Fox 11 and 11 p.m. on News Channel 3.
Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.
