The city of Palm Springs is ramping up enforcement of safety practices like social distancing and wearing masks as Riverside County health officials report we are on a “different curve” with a lower number of cases than expected.

Not following the rules could now cost you a pretty penny in Palm Springs.

“It can start off as low as $100, then progress to $250, $500 and then obviously the big fines we have the options of the $5,000, $10,000, $25,000,” Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes said.

Chief Reyes said if his officers come across a person or an essential employee not wearing a mask, this is what the stop would look like:

“We contact people and we either provide them with a copy of the directive and educate them on the importance of following through, we log their names whenever we contact somebody so if we should run in to the same person the second time it’s going to show that history in our computer system that they’ve been warned and the initial circumstance surrounding that contact.”

He said they haven’t had to issue any tickets yet and they intend to use education over citation. That’s why signage is now required to be put on every essential business and a new hotline is being provided for residents to call in about violations like large gatherings or non-essential businesses operating.

NBC Palm Springs called in to the Riverside County public briefing on Wednesday to see what’s being done for enforcement on face coverings at their level.

“At this point, we don’t necessarily have a county-wide enforcement mechanism to ensure that individuals wear masks that would be something for us to think through with our legal counsel,” V. Manuel Perez, Riverside County Supervisor for the Fourth District, said. “Ultimately, my hope is that we don’t have to get to that point where we’re ticketing individuals because they’re not wearing a mask. My hope is that people decide for themselves that it’s the right thing to do.”

The county said because of the proactive measures in place, “we may have averted a hospital surge”. If we stay the course, the projected 65,000 cases could turn into 13,000 cases.

Officers to Use ‘Education over Citation’ for Face Covering Enforcement