Police: We can not ticket or arrest people who are not wearing masks

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Local police are clearing up confusion about mask enforcement.  They say they can’t legally hand out tickets or arrest people who aren’t wearing them — but they will encourage and educate the public.

Gates Police Chief James VanBrederode is reacting to Governor Cuomo’s comment about mask enforcement.

“I can tell you here in Monroe County, we have has met with our local political leaders and we agreed that we would go with the educational prerogative instead of taking any kind of law enforcement action,” said Chief VanBrederode.

He said there’s no law that currently exists to ticket or arrest people without masks.

“If people are not wearing it we’re gonna try to educate them on that and try to provide them with a free one, but we’re not gonna start arresting people or doing any of that,” said Chief VanBrederode.

Meanwhile, business owners and restauranteurs like Jason Hilton of POP ROC Cereal Bar and Comic shop, are making decisions on how they’ll approach mask-wearing inside their businesses when they are able to open.

“It’s a safety measure that we’re absolutely adhering to,” Hilton said.  “We’ll see where we’re at and evaluate it, but we think the right thing to do for any and every  business right now to make sure that you’re protecting the people who matter most which are your guests.”