Christopher Dilts/Sipa USA via AP Images
A sign in the window of a Chicago Walgreens drugstore advises customers that face masks are required for entry, May 2020.
The graphic, public murder of George Floyd served as the breaking point for African American communities already facing police brutality and struggling with the health and economic challenges brought on by COVID-19. The two weeks of protests that followed encapsulated public-health officials’ worst nightmares about large public gatherings. But the health risks that thousands of demonstrators took to protest racism and police brutality may produce new approaches to social distancing that eliminate the police as enforcers of pandemic health mandates.
“It is impossible for police to enforce a broad social policy without consensus from the public,” says Marshall Chin, a professor of health care ethics in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. “The fact that we even have to discuss the role of police in social distancing reflects the failure of leadership to protect the public’s health.”
The tension between police and residents can limit the success of social-distancing policies in communities of color. Some African Americans refuse to wear a mask or scarf because they do not want to risk raising the suspicions of police—or anyone who might call them. But failing to wear a mask can also bring on the cops. In a widely shared cellphone video, Philadelphia police officers hauled an African American man off a city bus after the driver called the police because the man boarded without a mask—a violation of the transit agency’s policy—and refused to get off.
Some African Americans refuse to wear a mask or scarf because they do not want to risk raising the suspicions of police—or anyone who might call them. But failing to wear a mask can also bring on the cops.
Overall arrests have declined sharply in a number of cities during the pandemic. But blacks and Latinos are still arrested at higher rates than whites, and that also holds true for people who violate social-distancing edicts. In New York, 80 percent of the people arrested for violating social-distancing policies between March 17 and May 4 were African American. In a two-month period in Chicago, all the arrests and the majority of citations involved Latinos or African Americans. Across Ohio, black residents were over four times more likely than white residents to be charged with violating stay-at-home.
“Black, indigenous, and other communities of color are disproportionately policed, so as a result, social-distancing orders are more likely to be enforced in their communities,” says Sirry Alang, a Lehigh University professor of sociology and health. “This will expose them to potentially deadly encounters with the police—and even if police encounters are not deadly, police presence is a stressor.”
According to Alang, there is a direct link between police brutality and mistrust of medical institutions. In a survey of adults living in urban areas, she found that respondents who experienced negative encounters with the police developed higher levels of mistrust in other institutions, like health care centers, leading to lower levels of engagement and trust. Making the police the arbiters of public-health mandates runs the risk of further stoking mistrust of medical organizations and public-health initiatives like mask-wearing.
The fact that President Donald Trump turned mask-wearing into a partisan issue only exacerbates these problems.
The legacy of policing of African Americans includes the close scrutiny given to their clothing, appearance, and other innocuous behaviors that would most likely be ignored if exhibited by a white person. Modern-day policing evolved from slave patrols, groups of white men responsible for keeping track of the whereabouts and behavior of enslaved people. They pursued anyone who escaped and meted out beatings, shootings, and hangings as they pleased.
“Arrest can be a very low threshold to meet when you are black in America,” says Carla Shedd, a professor of sociology at the City University of New York. “We can remember that Freddie Gray’s fatal encounter with Baltimore police began when he made eye contact with officers. Sandra Bland’s fatal encounter began with a vehicle stop for which the officer’s justification was that she didn’t use a signal when changing lanes.”
Instead of officers arresting people who violate social-distancing policies, Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, suggests implementing a number of alternative enforcement methods that run less of a risk of creating mistrust and crowding already virus-prone jails. Along with public-education campaigns, Benjamin suggests employing signs and other visual reminders and encouraging people to hold each other accountable.
Enforcement could be carried out by an alternative body of social service professionals; Minneapolis may turn to such a framework to handle matters like mental health in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently installed thousands of signs throughout the subway system encouraging riders to socially distance. Additionally, the MTA recruited volunteers to distribute masks and hand sanitizer to those in need. Riders without masks will offered a face covering by police or transit workers; if they refuse to wear it they must leave the station. According to an MTA official, public shaming methods like riders taking cell phone videos of violators can be an effective deterrent. However, while these measures may offer the potential for success, interventions by individuals can also lead to trouble.
But Benjamin says that only after a person has repeatedly refused to follow such procedures should the situation escalate to issuing a fine, similar to a speeding ticket. “Most people don’t want to break the rules,” he says. “But a lot of people need to be reminded of the rules.” Benjamin says enforcement could be carried out by an alternative body of social service professionals; Minneapolis may turn to such a framework to handle matters like mental health in the wake of Floyd’s death.
Jim Mangia, president and CEO of the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, an independent network of community health clinics in South Los Angeles, agrees that during this time of protest law enforcement should not be responsible for social distancing. He also notes that police actions, forcing people into tight spaces and using tear gas during the protests, increased transmission risks. According to Mangia, education campaigns by trusted community officials to persuade people to comply with these policies are preferable. Hundreds of residents have contacted the South L.A. clinics to educate themselves on best social-distancing practices.
Relieving police officers of enforcement requirements helps to reduce the fears about potentially deadly encounters. Until scientists come up with effective treatments and a vaccine, community leaders and public-health officials must focus on sharing information on ways to minimize risks, especially during demonstrations, such as wearing masks and bringing extras for others and using drums, signs, or recordings, instead of yelling and chanting, which spreads virus-laden droplets.
Recruiting and training people who can persuade others to consider their families and friends when making decisions about wearing masks offers a potentially more effective means of boosting social-distancing compliance—since for many Americans during this season of protest, fighting for police accountability, ending brutality, and curbing racism outweigh the risk of contracting COVID-19.
