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Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg plans for Louisville Metro Police to start imposing a decades-old ordinance that makes carrying face coverings in public unlawful in an try and curb gun violence, he stated in a information convention Tuesday.
Greenberg began discussing the thought of leveraging the ordinance with LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey after a taking pictures occurred within the Pleasure Ridge Park Excessive Faculty parking zone throughout a soccer sport Sunday night time. The suspects within the taking pictures have been carrying “surgical masks and different face coverings to hide their identities,” Greenberg stated.
“This isn’t an remoted incident. LMPD officers see time and time once more when assailants, trigger-pullers, are carrying masks to hide their identities,” Greenberg stated.
What’s the masks ordinance Mayor Greenberg is contemplating imposing?
Ordinance 130.01 was handed in 1983 and hasn’t been enforced by LMPD for the reason that outset of the coronavirus pandemic, stated Kevin Trager, press secretary for the mayor’s workplace.
The ordinance prohibits individuals from carrying “any masks, gadget or hood whereby any portion of the face is so hidden or coated as to hide the id of the wearer” whereas in public.
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Trager famous the ordinance does not carve out an exemption for individuals carrying masks for medical causes.
What’s exempt beneath Louisville’s masks ordinance?
Because the ordinance at the moment stands, it permits the next exemptions:
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Any particular person beneath 16 years of age.
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Any particular person carrying conventional vacation costumes in season.
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Any particular person utilizing masks in theatrical productions, together with use in Mardi Gras celebrations and masquerade balls.
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Any particular person lawfully engaged in trades or employment or in sporting exercise the place a masks or facial overlaying is worn for the aim of guaranteeing the bodily security of the wearer or due to the character of the occupation, commerce or skilled or sporting exercise.
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Any particular person carrying a gasoline masks in drills, workouts or emergencies.
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Any particular person participating in an exercise such that the carrying of the masks is protected by the Structure of the Commonwealth of Kentucky or the US Structure.
Will any amendments be made to the masks ordinance?
Greenberg stated the principles must be amended to account for individuals who put on masks in public to defend towards COVID-19 and different respiratory diseases. Greenberg will use the following week to collect enter from Metro Council and group members on easy methods to design the ordinance in a method that protects public and improves public security, Trager stated.
“We imagine there must be some amendments to this ordinance that we’ll be speaking about with our colleagues on Metro Council about instantly,” Greenberg stated.
All amendments would must be authorized by Louisville Metro Council.
What’s the penalty for violating the masks ordinance?
Individuals who violate the ordinance may be punished with a tremendous of as much as $100 or imprisonment to not exceed 50 days, or each, in accordance with the present guidelines.
Why does Mayor Greenberg need to implement the masks ordinance?
Greenberg stated Tuesday that gun violence is a “public well being emergency that we should take care of.”
Some perpetrators of gun violence have used the elevated prevalence of masking in public as a loophole to make getting away with crimes simpler, Greenberg stated. The masking ordinance offers regulation enforcement one other device to loosen the grip gun violence has on communities throughout Louisville, he stated.
“There are instruments that we’ve got that we will use to scale back the quantity of gun violence. It’s critically vital that we take each motion to implement them,” Greenberg stated.
This story could replace.
This text initially appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville mask ordinance: What is it, who is exempt, upcoming changes
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