Of Executive Orders and Sheriffs

Photo from the NCSO fb page

On Wednesday a demonstration in Lansing brought the gridlock organizers hoped for, with vehicles piling into the streets and large groups congregating near and around the capitol building in a protest against the orders issued by Governor Whitmer causing the closure of non essential services and businesses.

That same  day four northern Michigan Sheriffs sent out a news release announcing they would not be strictly enforcing the stay at home order and would “deal with every case as an individual situation and apply common sense in assessing the apparent violation.”
They spoke of  responding to calls but handling them  on a case by case basis.

The news release garnered a lot of attention on a number of news sites as well as providing the usual plethora of social media responses.

Interestingly enough, N3 posed a question to Newaygo County Sheriff Bob Mendham nearly 2 weeks ago, soon after the order was issued on April 2nd, as to what the order would mean to local residents.
His response seemed to be similar to what the quartet of lakeshore Lawmen issued.

“We won’t be actively searching for violations but will respond if there is a complaint,” said Sheriff Mendham . “We will take a complaint when given and make a determination. A verbal warning will be issued if we feel the business is in violation. A second complaint (violation) would go to the prosecutor.”

Today the NCSO posted this on their facebook page:
We have received many phone calls, text messages and emails regarding Governor Whitmer's Executive Orders and the Sheriff's Office position on those orders.
The women and men of the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Michigan. It is our responsibility to serve and protect the citizens of Newaygo County and protect your rights as described in the Constitution. We will respond to all calls for service and will address each call with common sense. Our goal is to ensure that everyone is safe and treated fairly.
It is our opinion that the people of Newaygo County will use good judgement and be considerate of their friends and neighbors. We will all get through this by working and communicating with each other. Please take care of each other and let us know if you need our assistance.
Sheriff Bob Mendham
Newaygo County Sheriff's Office
 
We caught up with Sheriff Mendham, a busy guy running a really busy department these days, for a couple of questions.

N3 Why today’s fb response?
Sheriff Mendham:We were and are receiving many questions about how we are enforcing the governor's order,  we were just trying to clarify and calm some nerves.

N3 Getting a lot of calls?
SM: No, we have not received a lot of complaints involving the executive orders.

N3 The statement released right after the order came down...still hold?
SM: Yes. We will, as always, serve and protect the citizens of the county and their constitutional rights while exercising common sense in each situation.
 
-Ken DeLaat N3 News



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