{"id":5625,"date":"2020-03-25T05:46:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T05:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=5625"},"modified":"2020-03-25T05:46:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T05:46:51","slug":"nsw-police-force-commissioner-reaffirms-commitment-to-enforce-covid-19-ministerial-directions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/03\/25\/nsw-police-force-commissioner-reaffirms-commitment-to-enforce-covid-19-ministerial-directions\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW Police Force Commissioner reaffirms commitment to enforce COVID-19 Ministerial Directions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commissioner Mick Fuller has reaffirmed the commitment of the NSW Police Force to use all powers available to officers to enforce all COVID-19-related ministerial directions.
\nA number of ministerial directions been announced to date, covering incoming travellers, diagnosed persons, mass gatherings and social distancing rules, and the closure of social gathering places.
\nThe Public Health Act 2010 (NSW)<\/em> provides NSW Police with the power to enforce these orders. It is an offence for a person to fail to comply with an order, and severe penalties apply.
\nFollowing the NSW Government\u2019s recent amendment to the legislation, police will have the additional power to issue Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) to anyone found to be in contravention of a ministerial direction.
\nPINs carry on-the-spot fines of $1000 for individuals and $5000 for businesses.
\nThis is in addition to the existing enforcement powers available to officers, which include issuing Court Attendance Notices with a maximum penalty of up to $11,000 and\/or six months imprisonment for individuals.
\nCommissioner Fuller said the circumstances call for strong action \u2013 and police stand ready to respond.
\n\u201cThis health crisis is like nothing we have ever experienced, with more than 1000 cases now confirmed in NSW, and the numbers continuing to grow,\u201d Commissioner Fuller said.
\n\u201cI\u2019m encouraged that most members of the community are taking this issue seriously and are adhering to the government advice.
\n\u201cHowever, disturbingly, our officers have already responded to dozens of reports of breaches of ministerial directions from members of the community.
\n\u201cThis is astounding, and incredibly disappointing, as these people are putting themselves and the wider community at an unacceptable risk.
\n\u201cThe last thing we want to do is to have to use police powers to ensure compliance, but let me be clear \u2013 we have been using them and we will continue to do so.\u201d
\nMinister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said the measures were tough but necessary to minimise the risk the pandemic poses to public safety.
\n\u201cDespite the majority of people doing the right thing, we are still seeing reckless and irresponsible behaviour that endangers the lives of others, particularly to elderly and immunocompromised members of the community,\u201d Mr Elliott said.
\n\u201cThe rules are clear. No more than one person should occupy a two by two metre area, and public places such as the beach and retail outlets are no exception.
\n\u201cOur message to the community is simple: be vigilant, be sensible, and stay up to date with the latest health advice.
\n\u201cNo one is above the law. If you decide to ignore a direction to self-isolate, you will be caught and you may find yourself slapped with a hefty fine.\u201d
\nNSW Police Force last week launched operation Coronavirus to guide the organisation\u2019s response, with highly specialised officers providing practical and logistical support to our 17,000-strong workforce.
\nThe Police Operations Centre (POC), the command location for coordinating all police activities in response to major incidents, has been made operational.
\nCommissioner Fuller said in addition to responding to reports of non-compliance, police had put in place a number of proactive measures to help stop the spread of the virus.
\n\u201cOur officers are conducting proactive patrols in every Police Area Command and Police District across the state, to add another layer of enforcement and ensure people in public places are sticking to the rules.
\n\u201cThese patrols also form part of our ongoing work with retailers, to ensure calm and fairness at the checkouts.
\n\u201cI want to urge the people of NSW to stay safe and follow the official government advice.
\n\u201cNow more than ever, we need to pull together and fight this virus as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commissioner Mick Fuller has reaffirmed the commitment of the NSW Police Force to use all powers available to officers to enforce all COVID-19-related ministerial directions. A number of ministerial directions been announced to date, covering incoming travellers, diagnosed persons, mass gatherings and social distancing rules, and the closure of social gathering places. The Public Health … Continue reading “NSW Police Force Commissioner reaffirms commitment to enforce COVID-19 Ministerial Directions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}