News File Photo

ALPENA — Rumors of police pulling over residents to challenge their right to be out of their homes have been swirling since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shut down all but essential business in mid-March to promote “social distancing,” Alpena Police Chief Joel Jett said Tuesday.

“That’s nonsense,” Jett said.

Whitmer’s order is aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. There are no confirmed cases of the virus in Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency, or Alcona counties, though more than 7,600 cases and 259 deaths have been reported statewide.

Officers are not stopping people just to question why they’re out and about, Jett said. They are still making standard traffic stops, and questions about where drivers are headed may be a part of those stops.

“I even double checked with my officers, ‘Hey, you’re not stopping people, asking where they’re going or coming from,'” Jett said. “The answer was, ‘No, sir.'”

Officers haven’t seen groups congregating, Jett reported, but would stop and check on them if they did.

While employers deemed essential have been asked to provide paperwork for their employees, proving they have the right to go to work, those papers are not required by police, Jett said.

The department has had a number of calls asking if it’s OK to go for a drive to combat their cabin fever.

The governor’s stay-at-home order is intended to keep people safe, but that doesn’t mean they can never leave, Jett said. Going out for a drive is just fine, he said, “as long as you don’t invite your neighbor to go with you.”

Moved by a seemingly greater concern, Alpena residents have inundated the Alpena Police Department with calls asking why the businesses that employ them are still open.

The executive order closing non-essential services left a lot of gray area, Jett said, and many businesses are using that uncertainty to stay open, concerning some of their employees who feel they shouldn’t be required to leave their homes to go to work.

A lot of companies are claiming they should be able to stay open “because of X, Y, and Z, where sometimes it’s just X,” the police chief said.

While residents are free to get groceries, fill up with gas, and check on their loved ones, businesses have a responsibility to close if they have been ordered to do so, Jett said, and police will follow up to attempt to make sure that happens.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.