TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — We're taking a closer look at the stay at home order put in place for the county and how it will be enforced.
Part of that order includes a curfew from 11 at night until 5 in the morning.
Tallahassee Police want to remind you that this curfew is about keeping you safe, not making arrests.
"If we are to get back to normal, we have got to flatten the curve on the coroanvirus and hope it does not spread completely through the community," said John Dailey, mayor of Tallahassee.
That's why Leon County is on a curfew.
"We're trying to prevent the house parties at 1 in the morning with 200 people," Dailey said. "We're trying to prevent the large gatherings of people."
To make sure that's not happening, Tallahassee police are on patrol.
"We're out looking for people who are just driving point-a to point-b, and don't really have a mission," said TPD officer Kevin Bradshaw, "and just trying to figure out if they really need to be out, and say, 'hey, it's best to be inside,'"
Getting caught is a second degree misdemeanor. That's means a hefty fine or up to 60 days in jail.
"We're not looking to go take a bunch of people to jail," Bradshaw said. "We'll do everything that we can to get our message out to keep it from coming to that."
This curfew is not exactly black and white. There are some exceptions, like walking your dog around the neighborhood.
The same goes for those essentials, like shopping.
"We did not even define what is essential and non essential," said Dailey. "And that's because in this time of uncertainty businesses need to try to stay afloat as best as possible."
The curfew will be in effect as long as the county is under a state of emergency.
