Berea, Bedford Police not enforcing mask mandate

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A mask mandate went into effect Wednesday evening in Cuyahoga, Huron, Trumbull and 4 other Ohio counties.

According to the mandate, if you are in a public place without a mask on you could get hit with a misdemeanor, but the order doesn’t say who is supposed to enforce the law if you aren’t following the rules.

Berea and Bedford police departments said they aren’t going to do anything until the governor clarifies.

They’ve asked people not to overwhelm dispatchers with calls about people not wearing masks.

For the past orders, it has been the health department’s job.

So who is responsible?

The governor’s office responded saying “we hope people will comply. Police or health dept.”

Governor DeWine was asked about enforcement during an appearance on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” Wednesday night.

“The law is a teacher. The law sets norms for society,” DeWine said. “We’ve already started to see an increase, a significant increase, in people wearing masks around Ohio.”

We expect to hear more from the governor on this at his 2 p.m. news conference Thursday. Watch live on 19 News and Cleveland19.com.

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