Police ready to enforce covid19 restrictions with 'heavy hand'

POLICE Commissioner Gary Griffith on Friday heeded the call of the Prime Minister to use the police’s heavy hand, as he increased patrols in the capital and other areas where people were illegally gathering.

At a media conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s on Friday, Dr Rowley asked the police to do what was necessary to encourage the population in the fight against covid19.

In a telephone interview with Newsday, Griffith said that encouragement will come in the way of increased foot patrols by day and increased mobile patrols at night.

“We will have increased foot patrols at all locations that are allowed to remain open. After 8 pm, it will intensify. There will be heavy police presence ensuring that businesses make sure that they control their crowds. As I stated last year, we will shut down any businessplace if they can’t control their customers.”

In April last year, Griffith threatened to shut down banks, groceries and other businesses that had crowds gathered outside their businesses. After the threat the businesses, including banks, placed markers outside six feet apart to ensure physical distancing and limited the number of people inside their businesses at any given time. These measures remain in place.

At the media conference Rowley said: “I am here asking the Commissioner of Police – because I am not to instruct the Commissioner as to who he puts his hands on, but I could ask him – to ensure that his men and women, who are called upon to do more than they were doing, to please encourage the population, in all the ways you know how, that bad behaviour have consequences.”

Asked what Griffith can do to encourage the population, Rowley said: “The police have broad responsibilities: to point out; to coerce; to restrain; to charge; to close. I expect that they will use all of those authorities towards the effect of having people not congregate, not encourage congregation, not provide facilities for congregation and in short, breaking the law.”

Rowley added that calling on the population to do certain things had stimulated an opposite response. He said of the actions of the population in the last few days, instead of responding in a way to roll back the covid19 threat, some were seemingly trying to “regain the Carnival we lost in February.”

The PM said if all the population understood was the heavy hand, then the police will have to use it. He said there have been recommendations to call a state of emergency but all that would do would be remove the rights of citizens and it would not make the population more responsible in fighting against covid19.

“For those people who believe the only thing to respond to is the heavy hand, the police have a heavy hand. We only have so much charge-room space. We only have so much jail space. And if we put them in an open space with a fence you will be the first to say, ‘All the man do is not wear a mask.’”

The general attitude, he said ,was one of nonchalance.

“Some people are telling you to your face by their actions that they are not prepared to respond to anything but the heavy hand.

“It is impossible to assign a police officer to every citizen. We have 1.375 million people in this country. We have at any given hour of the day between 5,000 to 7,000 police officers a day. Even if it was available it is not feasible. What we want is a high level of co-operation with the population. We are asking for enforcement and to encourage lawful behaviour. That’s what the police will do.”