By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Law enforcement agencies said the vast majority of people have voluntarily complied with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order.
In the early hours of the stay-at-home order, Ed Wojcicki, executive director for the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said some departments were asking about what authority they were supposed to cite when telling businesses to close or residents to head home.
“We saw what options we might have and we also realized the spirit of it is to try to keep people off the streets and in their homes,” he said. “The governor does have the authority under a couple of state laws, the emergency act, for the most part.”
Even though the order was broad and far-reaching, Wojcicki said police chiefs across the state had been given an easy task thanks to widespread media information and people complying in an effort to protect the most vulnerable from the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re getting a lot of reports that streets look eerily empty,” he said, adding that local media’s quick dissemination of the orders and how to comply with them made for an informed and largely compliant populace. “I think you’ve done a great job about educating people about what they’re supposed to do and when so we’re grateful for that.”
Police in Chicago were forced to break up parties and enforce distancing, prompting mayor Lori Lightfoot to close off access to the lakefront and a number of trails and parks.
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