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Public Health Police Powers of Government

Public health risks give government significant powers.

As an emergency manager at the state and local levels, I have always written about when and why a governor or chief elected official of a county or city might and/or should declare/proclaim an emergency. In my 31 years of emergency management, we have never been in the situation where the police powers of the state in reference to public health have come into play. Today, our nation, every state and community is about to learn more about the powers given to protect public health. 

Those police powers are significant, and it is when the individual rights of the citizen are not supreme. It is the public health of the community that has the priority. For a good discussion and history see this link, Public Health Strategy and the Police Powers of the State

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.