Tom Fox-Pool/Getty Images, Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images
- Texans violating mask policies can be arrested for "criminal trespass," Houston's police chief said.
- This is despite Texas lifting its statewide mask mandate Wednesday.
- Police officers will still wear masks until most Americans have been vaccinated, he told CNBC.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
Texans who violate business' mask policies can still be arrested even after the end of the statewide mask mandate, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
If customers refuse to wear masks after being asked by a business, they can also be banned from entering the premises for "at least a year," he told CNBC's "The News with Shepard Smith" Tuesday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted its statewide mask mandate Wednesday, becoming the largest state yet to do so.
Public health experts, local businesses, and some government officials have criticized the state's decision.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious-disease expert in the US, called the decision "inexplicable" and warned it could lead to another surge in cases, while President Joe Biden called it "a big mistake," and a result of "Neanderthal thinking."
Despite Texas and other states rolling back COVID-19 restrictions, some companies, including Target, Macy's, and Kroger, have said they will still require that staff members and customers wear masks.
Law enforcement will be able to take action against people who refuse to comply, Acevedo told CNBC.
Police officers can arrest customers for "criminal trespass" if they don't wear a mask and refuse to leave the business premises, he said.
Officers can also issue criminal trespass warnings, which would ban the customers from entering the property for "at least a year." If they returned to the business within this time frame, they could get arrested, he said.
Acevedo advised businesses not to enter arguments or physical altercations over their mask policies, referring to a Louisiana police officer who was fatally shot after helping enforce a mask policy for a high school basketball game.
Footage has also circulated of a mask-less customer in a Texas Trader Joe's having a meltdown after being denied entry. Workers have already seen a backlash as some customers refuse to accept store policies on masks, and employees of supermarket chain H-E-B are demanding the company enforce a mask policy
"A lot of businesses are gonna follow the science, require masks, and we know that's gonna create some conflict," Acevedo told CNBC.
He urged Texans who don't want to wear masks to "just take [their] business somewhere else" that doesn't have a mask mandate.
"This will give us an opportunity to see which one amongst us cares about others, and which one of us only cares about themselves and their perceived right to get other people sick and potentially kill them," he said.
Police officers in the state will still have to wear a mask, and this will be lifted only when most American adults have had a vaccine "hopefully by May," Acevedo said.
It was too early for the state to lift its mask mandate, he said, calling the decision "problematic."
"Some elected officials are more interested in their politics and their base than they are in science and in the health of their fellow Americans, and sadly police officers will be dragged into this," he said.
Just over 7 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in Texas, CDC data shows. Since the start of the pandemic, almost 45,000 Texans have died from the coronavirus. On Tuesday, the state reported 3,744 new coronavirus cases.
Other states including Michigan, Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Louisiana have lifted some of their COVID-19 restrictions, such as mask mandates and capacity limits for venues such as restaurants.