As our County responds to the impacts of COVID-19, the San Mateo Police Department remains committed to keeping San Mateo safe. We are taking measures to protect our community and our members during this health emergency.
Under the authority of the California Health and Safety Code, the health officer of the County of San Mateo has the authority to issue this order. According to the Order, the intent is to ensure the maximum number of people self-isolate in their place of residence (to the maximum extent feasible), while allowing essential services to continue in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Order also states all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a household or living unit are prohibited. In addition, all businesses with a facility (physical business front) in the County, except exempt essential businesses, are required to cease all activities at said facilities located within the County. Please read more about the Order and refer to Section 10 for exemptions at https://cmo.smcgov.org/eoc.
As for the San Mateo Police Department, education will be our primary goal, leaving enforcement as our last option. We have a tremendous partnership with our San Mateo community and our hope is to collaborate, ensuring compliance through education. As a last resort, officers have the option to issue a misdemeanor citation and/or arrest for non-compliance. Fines range from $50-$1,000 per incident. Regarding police operations, effective today, the San Mateo Police Department will be increasing patrols and the number of officers on the street to help maintain order and public safety for all San Mateans. We understand businesses will be closed and we’re responding by doubling our police presence to ensure high visibility around San Mateo. The safety of our citizens and protection of local businesses are our top priority.
In addition, our police department front lobby will be closed until April 7, 2020 to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on our staff. If at all possible, we encourage the public to please call the police department instead. Our non-emergency phone number is (650) 522-7700. For emergencies, continue to call 9-1-1. We encourage the public to reduce non-critical calls to police at this time, and remind them they can file several types of police reports online at http://sanmateopolice.org/.
Residents with non-medical, non-emergency questions about COVID-19 are asked to call 2-1-1 to speak with a trained professional with local information or text “coronavirus” to 211211.
