× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Sheriff Dave Beth has sent an open letter to the sheriffs of Wisconsin calling on them to think twice before deciding not to enforce the Safer-at-Home order.

On Monday Beth said the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department would enforce the order, which Gov. Tony Evers extended through May 26. Beth’s statement came after Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said last week that he would not enforce the order.

Schmaling wrote, “I can not in good faith participate in the destruction of Racine County businesses or interfere in the freedoms granted to all of us by our Constitution.”

In his letter to sheriffs around the state, Beth said he believed that decisions on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic were best made at the federal and state level.

“I’m not a doctor, scientist or a constitutional attorney, and I don’t play one on TV,” Beth wrote. “I rely on my governor, my health division and my corporation counsel to advise me in times like this.”

Beth said in his letter that he has been getting both calls and emails of support because he said he would enforce the order and angry calls and emails opposed. He said sheriffs should not have been put in that position.