Stay safe, stay home this weekend
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster:
As we head into the
weekend, Police are reminding New Zealanders that
we
remain at Alert Level 4 and non-essential travel or
activity is not
permitted.
There are no borders in
place and people should remain at their primary place
of
residence.
For the safety of our communities it is
absolutely vital that everyone
continues to adhere to the
restrictions in place.
That means exercise should be in
your neighbourhood only and any recreational
activity
that could lead to a rescue or emergency response is not
permitted.
That includes, but is not limited to,
activities such as surfing,
snowboarding, tramping,
fishing and whitebaiting.
Should you run into trouble with
weather or injury and require help, you
immediately put
others in danger. Don’t be the person who sparks
an
emergency call out, when you shouldn't be out in the
first place.
Police will be taking an education-first
approach to the restrictions,
however, quick and decisive
enforcement action will be taken where necessary
for the
safety of everyone.
The majority of New Zealanders
continue to do the right thing, avoiding
non-essential
travel and keeping themselves and their whanau safe by
staying
at home.
Since the beginning of Alert Level 4,
12 people have been charged in relation
to breaching
COVID-19 restrictions, the majority of those relating to
protest
activity. There have been two prosecutions in
Northland, five in Auckland
City, two in Bay of Plenty
and three in Canterbury.
Police have also issued 20 formal
warnings to people in breach of the
rules.
Between
midnight on 17 August and 5pm yesterday (19 August), Police
have
received 1,869 Online Breach Notifications. 607 of
those reports are from
Tamaki Makaurau. Of those reports,
984 were about a gathering, 742 about a
business and 143
about an individual.
Police remain out and about in our
communities conducting reassurance visits
and compliance
checks.
In Tamaki Makaurau today Police have been carrying
out random pop-up
checkpoints to ensure compliance with
restrictions.
The public will continue to see a visible
Police presence in the Rodney area
between Auckland and
Northland, with officers actively stopping vehicles
to
ensure motorists have a legitimate reason for movement
through the region.
We expect high volumes of traffic to
continue around testing centres across
Auckland and we
ask everyone to remain patient if travelling to
these
locations.