Marion (Moronic) County Sheriff
 

He clearly has no regard for the safety of his community. A moronic decision That is shameful.

He's looking for his 15 minutes of fame....of course the national media is going to report on this. Florida seems to be leading the states in COVID and IDIOTS!

Masks
 

Where did you read these exceptions?

👍🏻 yup

And some dude walking around Walmart with a AK 47 and a pistol on his hip isn’t?

If you read the article you would understand the statement that it makes sense. With the climate today of anti-cops he wants to be able to identify friend or foe. If someone comes into the sheriff's office wanting to do harm he wants to be able to identify them. Out on the road, when his officers give a command, he wants them to be understood the first time. As we all know, wearing a mask makes it hard to be heard. It makes perfect sense to me that he wants to protect his employees. I lived in Marion County for 35 years and can tell you this man is well loved for his common sense approach.

Insane. Follow the scientists.

Agreed!!
 

Masks do NOTHING to prevent the spread of the Chinese Flu. I say cheers to Sheriff Billy! Ignore the media, and think for yourself.

And his comment that you can find an equal number of people who are against masks as those who are for masks is completely ridiculous. Just about ALL of the REAL medical experts say that wearing masks will save lives. End of discussion, Billy Woods.

Apparently...:blahblahblah:

Great idea!
 

Sheriff Billy should expect a huge amount of support from thinking people!:a040:

Everyone opposed to this seems to think that every person they encounter has this virus when in fact, 98%+ of the population does not. I'm more concerned with idiots in roundabouts making a left turn from the right lane without a signal in front of me to be honest.

I'll take that bet. How much? Name the amount. We'll have an escrow agent hold the money.

Vote the fool out of office.

The insanity continues. I’m not quite sure why the no-mask mandate. Perhaps it is difficult for facial recognition?? Doesn’t seem to make sense to me but this is 2020, the year where nothing makes sense. So, my question is...if I need a member of the Marion County’s Sheriff department to respond to a medical emergency in my home, will they be wearing a mask? I sure hope the answer to that is a yes!

Do you have a number to call on this?

He’s got my vote! Masks don’t work.

Law enforcement agencies AND militiary organizations provide name patches for officer uniforms. That's not sleep-away camp. That's accountability. There's no reason why the same can't be done on the side of a mask.

If the concern is "the sheriff can't identify you if you're wearing a mask" then the obvious solution is to put your identity on the mask.

A police officer wearing his uniform, with a mask on that has a name that matches the patch on his uniform, coming out of an actual police car and approaching a vehicle whose driver has violated some kind of law - should be easily recognized as legit by the driver of that vehicle.

There's no reason why that officer shouldn't wear a mask.

And if they won't let them wear masks and insist it's an "identity" issue, then they can require clear face shields. Then there'd be no doubt that the person sitting in Lt. Clark's seat really is Lt. Clark.

This isn't rocket science. Even 3rd graders could come up with clever ways of keeping a face safe while allowing identification of that face to others.

Seems to me there is a lot of sense to this. They are law enforcement and hiding behind a mask deters their ability to serve. It takes common sense to stay away from someone who is hacking and sneezing. Use your common sense.

Exactly, do you tell him respectfully please put on a mask before we start a conversation?

This is why this virus is lingering around and destroying our economy. If everyone had just been required to wear masks and it was enforced as much as possible, things would be so much better right now. It is decisions like his and the attitude of other selfish mefirsters that is extending the severity of this pandemic in Florida.

The reason for masks is probably;
1. with all the crazies running around that are against the police, you cannot identify a person with a mask who walks in the door.
2 . all employees can then identify each other in case there happens to be an unauthorized person who came in the back door.
3. Messages are sometimes not heard or understood correctly with a mask on.

Marion County sheriff forbids masks for deputies, visitors of Marion County Sheriff's Office

What happened to critical thinking in the US? Or, at least, by this Sheriff?

Is he expecting the Terminator to come into his building?

When you encounter a threat too you would hardly be smiling at the person who is posing a danger. So what difference would a mask make when worn by an officer?

Good-ole Sheriff Billy...

He's become a national embarrassment as this story is now all over the news.

Exactly!!!! Nuff said.

So, lets get this into perspective. Before this pandemic, if someone wore a mask into a business, especially a law enforcement agency, what would have happened???? Yes, I am sure you know the answer. Now, add to that AntiFa that hates and kills law enforcement and are a constant threat. How do you tell if they are coming into the police station to request assistance or coming in to kill COPs? You can't. Why do you feel that an officer should not take the same precautions as you do to survive during this time? You want to defund the police, AND have them do the same job, only with their hands tied behind their backs.
SHAME ON YOU ALL!

Just a little story about how dangerous their job is. This is a true story about a guy that I fought with in Vietnam. He was one of the only 9 or so guys on a hill that did not get wounded or killed in one particularly bad fire fight over there. He returned home later ('70s) and went into law enforcement. NYC police to be more precise. His partner and he was patrolling the streets on foot patrol when three men walked past them. It does not matter that they were black, but I am throwing it in for detail. After they walked past them, they turned around and pulled guns and emptied them into the two police officers, killing them. The guy that I served with, made it all the way home safely, only to be gunned down with nine bullets in the back by his own fellow Americans. You may have seen the movie they made related to it back in the 70's.

The Police have a very hard job and they are underpaid. Just because you all are scared and hide under your beds because of the boogieman called COVID19 does not mean there are other dangers in this world. If you can't take your mask off to enter a police station and stand six feet away from the person you are speaking with, then you probably don't need to be there.

It makes one wonder how folks can leave their homes, considering all the dangers in the world.

I applaud the leadership of this man that wishes to protect his men and women in uniform. The chances of anyone catching and then the chances of dying from it is so low, especially for those that are supposed to be healthy and protecting us. I do not see why you can't take care of most of what you need from an officer on the phone anyway.

It's not just about you. We have folks out there putting their lives on the line every day, and catching a virus is the least of their problems when they have folks micro managing them at their every turn, and others that want only to kill them.

I agree with the Sheriff. Wearing a mask for long periods subjects people to Breathing in an unhealthy amount Of CO 2. Occasional uses of masks is not dangerous- long periods of mask usage is. Read the studies

Those that live in the County can fix this.....he is elected right?

Good point about face shields. That would "un-mask" his real reason for making this rule - to get re-elected or get to be Mayor by pandering to the confused logic of his probable voters who are now "mask adverse" due to leadership propaganda and general conservative thinking in rural America and Florida. He may change as local people he knows DIES. This Pandemic is in ONLY the 2nd inning. The CV will NOT be blocked by a tiny silver badge and a uniform. A mask CAN help block it. Remember people in Australia and most of Europe are leading normal lives. We are in BIZZARO land and Marian Co. is a GREAT example!

I agree about the GLOVES also. Especially for deputies that will touch their mouths and then people or objects for people to touch. What if they work in that contagious prison then go and sit at McDonalds. Do they or anyone sanitize behind them? I think not. Public servants are PAID to SERVE the people that they interact with. Taxpayers are getting ripped off and killed in Marion Co. Some lawyer - please sue. What if ALL the property owners of Marion Co. refused to send in their checks for property tax? Would that get the Sheriff fired? Just trying to imagine a more perfect world - sorry, I must be day-dreaming.

That Sherif is not playing with all his/her marbles, should be fired for endangering the public, instead of serving and protecting them.

Yes and half of the people in the US need to look themselves in the eye and ask, "am I that idiot?'

That statistic does NOT take into consideration those who suffer at home or in a hospital and survive. And there are yet uncalculated adverse LIFETIME effects. This is a NOVEL virus, its future behavior and threat is unknown. Best to NOT get it at all. Do NOT disregard science! You can't pray away the CV.

We've had 545,040 positive cases of Covid-19 in Florida, I wonder how many religiously wore a mask? That would be a great follow up I would love to see. And with 8,765 deaths in Florida, the 55+ group account for 93% of them. If you can't understand why those under 55 don't feel at risk then you're delusional. The death rate for those in the age group 25-34 is 0.0005. And that's just from the REPORTED positives. You're right, they're more likely to die from an old person in a car crash. If I was in that age group I'd say I'll wear a mask when you start road testing every person over 65 every year. Among females, the over-65 age group had the highest number of fatalities followed by the 16-to-20 age group. Among males, the age groups 16 to 20, 21 to 25, and over 65 had more crash fatalities than other age. We already have limitations in place for the younger age groups, why not those over 65? It's about keeping others safe right? If I was in the younger age demographic I would say "I'll start worrying about keeping them safe when they start worrying about keeping me safe".

So, do I understand this correctly? Because women over 65 are dangerous drivers, it’s okay to kill older people with Covid?

Only if they wear a mask!

Truely sorry to hear the sad story about your friend. I hate to make this comment - but, do NOT police and firefighters earn extra pay for danger pay? And they normally and deservedly earn GOOD retirements, some after 20 years? So when they CHOSE to become these public servants, they are certainly aware that they are CHOSING that particular balance of risks and rewards. What am I missing? And many of the Vietnam era fighters were drafted. So they did NOT get to CHOSE. Their deaths are VASTLY sadder in my opinion. I especially RESPECT any that volunteered to go over there!

So unfortunately it’s not just to the HQ or substations, it’s also officers responding to calls. This is a sad political move on this sheriffs part. It will come back to haunt him, seeing that Marion County is recording some very high numbers for Florida. Officer safety appears to not bea priority to this leader! Unfortunate!! And usually if your going to the HQ or sub there IS A REASON! Really!

Here is a meta study from a reputable scientific journal.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...9/fulltext#%20