Police reaction to Stay Home order

Police want to see empty streets
Photo by Lee Lageschulte

KCSO (and every police response posted so far) have the same reaction to the Stay Home order


This evening, Governor Jay Inslee ordered all Washington State residents to stay home for a minimum of two weeks in an effort to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 infections.

All non-essential businesses must close within 48 hours.

So what is our role in this? 

The Governor is not asking law enforcement, including the King County Sheriff's Office, to actively enforce the stay at home order and we see no need to do so.

Instead, if our deputies see banned gatherings, we will take an educational approach and remind people of the current restrictions issued by the Governor.

It is our hope that people will simply self-regulate their behavior and stay at home to preserve public health and safety. If you must leave home for essential activities, we continue to ask that you follow public health guidelines and practice good social distancing measures.

“Rest assured that we are continuing our work to keep communities safe from crime and responding to emergencies like we always have,” said Sheriff Mitzi G. Johanknecht. 

“We are all in this together, and together we will see our way through this crisis.”