Not everyone in Port Arthur, Mid County complying with mandated shopping rules

Published 3:07 pm Wednesday, April 1, 2020

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Compliance to Jefferson County’s order to limit the number of people per household going shopping and only shop when absolutely necessary to has varying degrees of cooperation across the area.

And while the order is meant to slow the spread of COVID-19, some law enforcement agencies are still seeing shoppers.

Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter said there are always going to be people who do not follow the rules but for the most part, people are.

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“It’s like speeders,” he said. “Most people don’t speed because it’s against the law, then there are others who will speed anyway. Most everybody abides by the rules, and there are a few who don’t care or are reckless and don’t follow the rules.”

Porter said Tuesday they had only one incident where officers had to go to a local grocery store for a complaint. He didn’t specify which store. Most stores have taken measures in advance to deal with the situation.

“And we have had a good many phone calls asking how to stay in guidelines, some of the rules are a little bit confusing, and they called to find out exactly what the rules are,” Porter said. “For the most part, people are staying in the guidelines of the rules.”

Capt. Crystal Holmes with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the unincorporated areas of the county do not have big stores, but the small ones in the communities are doing well and have not had any issues with shoppers not complying.

Port Neches Police Chief Paul Lemoine has seen people not compliant with the order. And while his city doesn’t have the big box stores of larger cities, he still finds people not following the one-person, per-household order, as well as only shopping when it’s essential.

Lemoine has been known to pop into stores in Port Neches and check. If he finds people not complying, he stops and talks to them.

“It’s meant for you to stay at home, not to dilly dally, to get specific items you need for your house, not go around and browse,” Lemoine said, adding he realizes people feel pent up inside their homes.

The citizens, he said, are not complying with the order as written.

“Ultimately it’s up to those particular facilities to abide by that order and use either employees, unless they want to hire somebody,” he said. “At the end of the day that particular business is responsible for something that happens by not holding to that order or taking the steps to.”

The message is to take the order seriously.

“Stop being lackadaisical by going to the store when you don’t need to,” he said.

Lemoine realizes there are family situations where a parent can’t leave the young child in the parking lot or home alone, but the ones breaking the order the most are senior citizens.

“I’ve been chewing them out,” he said.

He suggested getting outside, walking or exercising if you feel the need.

Groves City Marshal Norman Reynolds Jr. said his department received a few anonymous complaints against a pawnshop and a funeral home.

Deputies with the Groves Police Department did speak with the folks at the pawnshop and funeral home to make them aware of the complaints, he said.

Port Arthur Police Chief Tim Duriso said, for the most part, people are complaint and he is proud of this.

“Every now and again we have some people that may be in violation and we try to educate them on what we have in place and ask them to correct the problem,” Duriso said. “If the problem is not corrected, then we may take other action.”

Educating the public is an issue at this time as a lot of people don’t have internet and some don’t watch TV to be aware of the changes, officers said.