Riley County Police Director Dennis Butler issued a statement to the public.
Friday night the first citation was issued at a commercial establishment for a violation of the Manhattan mask ordinance which was put into place on July 7th. This was done after education and voluntary compliance requests were ignored. Nearly a dozen businesses throughout the city of Manhattan were visited yesterday and only one was cited.
Our goal throughout the coronavirus pandemic has remained constant: to serve you. Education efforts have succeeded to this point in helping our officers to not be forced into issuing a citation due to someone refusing to comply with the city ordinance. As your police agency, we will make every reasonable effort to educate you of changes in the law, and effectively communicate the boundaries of what is implemented. We work tirelessly to inform members of our community of new local ordinances and state mandates that are put into place. We provide free masks when possible and use enforcement as a last resort. We are committed to maintaining the trust of our community through mutually beneficial conversations. We have been extremely sensitive to this issue and are fortunate the people in Riley County understand and embrace our thoughtful approach. We are always better working together, but this is truer now more than ever before.
Our community has prioritized the health and safety of our friends, family, and neighbors; all while making tremendous sacrifices affecting all of us personally, financially, and emotionally. We will continue to find the right balance between education and enforcement. Our officers are not eager to issue citations and prefer to work with you towards voluntary compliance. Your patience and trust in our agency are the reasons compliance has gone so well here. We are thankful for a community that symbolically stands with us, so we can all safely stand together again soon.