In March, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a statewide emergency and a stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents were asked to stay home, except for life-sustaining shopping and essential supplies.
Peter Douglas, a Royal Oak resident, decided to take a bike ride around his neighborhood during the first week of April. That is when Douglas was confronted by a Royal Oak police officer.
“I needed to get out, and I figured I would take the bike out. I was riding along and got pulled over,” Douglas explained to C&G Newspapers. “(The) cop asked me why I was out, and I just told him I needed to get out after being locked in the house alone for days. He told me that I wasn’t supposed to be out unless I was getting groceries or essential items, and I needed to go home. He let me off with a warning and that was it.”
Al Carter, who is a lieutenant for the Royal Oak Police Department, told C&G Newspapers that he doesn't recall the incident and couldn’t comment on it.
Douglas told C&G Newspapers that he doesn’t hold any resentment toward the officer but figures the officers are confused over what is and isn’t considered acceptable during Whitmer's emergency order.
“Chances are that they didn’t fully understand all the rules of the lockdown, and they see a biker rolling with Van Halen blasting on the radio and thought I was up to no good,” Douglas added.
According to Bloomfield Township Police Lt. Paul Schwab, confusion has been a big part of the majority of the emergency-order violations seen by law enforcement.
“We’ve had quite a few calls from residents reporting public health (order) violations. Since we started tracking them on April 11, we’ve had 55 complaints. Of those, 55 have been unfounded,” Schwab told C&G Newspapers.
Michael Bouchard, the Oakland County Sheriff, said Whitmer's orders have not only changed several times since last month, but even deputies are having a hard time interpreting the orders.
“So many people have turned off the news because they’re just overwhelmed with it, and they may not have heard the latest iteration of (the order),” Bouchard told C&G Newspapers. “To the extent that they can tune in and find out the latest, or visit the governor’s website or the attorney general’s website and read the frequently asked questions posted there, we hope they can. But we can’t expect everyone to be able to study the fine print each time.”
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