CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Many people in the Charlotte area are very excited to get back to work and they’ll get the chance as North Carolina starts Phase 1 of reopening Friday evening.
But how will police respond to make sure you’re safe?
Channel 9′s Mark Becker spoke with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department Wednesday morning and learned they’re relying on workers and businesses to help.
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For the first time in six or seven weeks, SouthPark Mall and other retail stores will be opening, but many of the rules we’ve gotten used to will still be in place.
Police said it’ll be up to store owners and customers to make sure they’re followed.
Channel 9 spoke with several business owners who told us they’re going to be watching to make sure rules like social distancing are observed.
CMPD talked through the reopening of our community and what it may mean for you. Watch the entire press conference here: https://t.co/1qzW490tnL #clt #cltnews #charlottenc pic.twitter.com/YWnJ2O1q3l
— CMPD News (@CMPD) May 6, 2020
Caroline Dowling is busy getting ready to reopen her store.
She closed her trendy boutique in Myers Park a week before the state ordered non-essential businesses to close and she's been hanging on ever since.
“A life raft just in time,” Dowling said. “Our online orders were decent but nowhere near what we do on a daily basis with our doors open.”
Shopper Abbey Barefoot told us she’s ready to get back into stores, even with the regulations that are in place.
“I think it’s just how good the stores are cleaning and keeping things sanitized and stuff,” said.
Dowling said the rules will definitely be different when they reopen on Saturday.
“We’re not going to allow more than five people in the store at a time,” she said.
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CMPD Deputy Chief Jeff Estes was clear in saying that we’re still in a pandemic and if we don’t police ourselves, we could find our situation going backward and increase the spread of the virus.
"We will respond to complaints … minus taking a tape measure to see who’s six feet apart,” he said.
Phase 1 goes into effect Friday at 5 p.m.
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