Governor and State Police Superintendent Walk Back Police Action on , “Wave Parades”

 

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, at the May 11th, 2020 Coronavirus Briefing Media   after tanking considerable heat from parents of 2020 graduates the Governor and State Police Superintendent  walked back police action against “Wave Parades”.

see below :

Reporter: Thank you, Governor. Why are schools not allowed to hold those so-called wave parades? Colonel, are you really going to go after principals who don’t cancel these parades and what punishment could they face? Governor, how can you justify allowing people to play golf when seniors are banned from these drive-by graduations when both are outdoors?

Governor Phil Murphy: With seniors? You mean high school seniors or senior citizens?

Reporter: High school seniors.

Governor Phil Murphy: I’ll let the Colonel, he alluded to this letter. I’ll let him take that one. Thank you.

State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan: I had a feeling it was coming. We were receiving several questions with regards to graduations and different proposals being put out there. First off, we would never and we could not prevent vehicles driving by, let’s say it’s a senior and him or her are on their front porch with their parents. Those vehicles can go by. What we are discouraging and the intent of my letter to Department of Education in public and non-public schools was directing students to gather on the front lawn of the school, at a football stadium, at a town hall, because what you’re doing is inviting them to gather, which is in violation of the EO.

I think there was confusion that people who are out of their cars, that was the issue. The wave parades, and we’ve seen it with fire departments and police, I think the Governor commented on it two weeks ago. It’s a great gesture to give that sense of solidarity, but when there’s 50 people standing on top of each other on the curb of a hospital or in front of a high school, that’s where the problem comes in. If people wanted to get in cars and drive to every graduate at a high school across town and that graduate and mom and dad were on the front porch or front lawn, that is certainly okay. But it’s the summoning of people to gather together for a graduation or that wave parade that I hope I was clear in the letter. I received a lot of feedback on it, so I hope what I just gave clarifies what our intent is there.

Governor Phil Murphy: If you look at, by the way, the parameters we’ve put around golf, it’s the furthest thing from what you’re hearing about, congregating at a football stadium. Literally, you’ve got to golf, basically, I think you’ve got to drive your own cart and you can at most have a twosome unless you’re a blood relative family that congregates together. Okay, real quick, please.

Reporter: Colonel, the letter I saw said that wave parades should be canceled. Are you saying that they don’t have to be canceled if people are not gathering at a school or a central location?

State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan: I think I’m clarifying it here now. A wave parade that does not summon students or individuals to one location, so if that’s seven cars want to drive by a senior’s house and that family is on the front porch or in the yard, that is certainly not in violation of the EO. But what I was hearing was that they were all going to be assembled at a school, at a town hall, at a football field, which would be in violation.

Governor Phil Murphy: And not in their cars, you’re saying that they’d be getting out of their cars.

State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan: Right, they’d be getting out of their cars.

Governor Phil Murphy: That can’t happen.

State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan: To wave at people and that’s where we’ve seen no mask and people within, closer than six feet of each other.