Over 4,000 cited in 2020 for breaching emergency orders

Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said yesterday that 4,275 people were cited for breaching the various emergency orders in 2020. 

The Bahamas was placed in a state of emergency in late-March after the country recorded its first case of COVID-19. Various lockdown orders were implemented to protect the population.

These orders mandated the closure of certain businesses, the wearing of face masks, social distancing, weekend lockdowns, curfews and sheltering in place policies, among other things that were punishable by fines of up to $10,000 and/or 18 months’ imprisonment.

Of those cited, Rolle said 77 attended a social gathering; 2,370 violated the curfew; 15 failed to enforce social distancing; one failed to implement sanitizing requirements; 247 failed to carry a government ID; 20 failed to socially distance; one failed to utilize curbside business; 214 failed to wear a face mask; 17 hosted a social gathering; 20 operated a prohibited business; and six permitted a person on their premises without a mask.

A total of 1,287 were cited for other breaches.

On New Providence, 2,099 people were cited; 1,553 on Grand Bahama and 623 on the Family Islands.

Hundreds of people were charged with violations of the emergency order before the order was changed to allow for ticketing instead. 

Those who were charged now have criminal records.

However, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said he was liaising with Attorney General Carl Bethel to expunge those records.

Rolle added that 288 members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Rolle attributed the high numbers to arrests for breaches of the emergency orders.

“When we first started, we were arresting persons, and what I found was that created a higher exposure for the officers,” he said.

“I had made a recommendation that instead of the arrests, that we issue tickets, which made it a little easier because we were seeing infections. 

“Remember you all had a party on us when we were having the numbers but that was because we had to lock these people up. They were infected. We were putting them in the cells. So, the rate of exposure was higher. After we started the ticketing, you know those numbers went down.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/over-4000-cited-in-2020-for-breaching-emergency-orders/