The Lock Down Police: Officers carry out almost NINETY spot checks on people who should be self-isolating and find Aussies are ignoring the rules
- Police visited 88 people today who were required to quarantine for two weeks
- Victoria Police will follow up with seven people who weren’t at home isolating
- Some have called police to dob in people they believe aren’t self-isolating
- Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said no fines have been issued yet
- Individuals face fines of up to $25,000 and businesses face $100,000 fines
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Hundreds of police officers have conducted almost 90 spot checks on Australians who should be self-isolating due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton AM said about 380 police officers were knocking on doors around the state on Thursday.
Of the 88 checks conducted so far, 70 people were home, seven people were not, and a few provided the wrong address details to the Australian Border Force.
‘We’re doing follow-ups as to where those people are,’ he said.
‘We had a couple of people who provided the wrong details to Border Force as to where they were supposed to be going when they returned from overseas so we’re obviously following those up as well.’
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton AM said about 380 police officers were doing spot checks across the state on Thursday
The majority of people they visited were ‘doing what they were supposed to be doing as far as isolating themselves’.
Individuals face fines of up to $25,000 and businesses face $100,000 fines for breaching isolation restrictions.
He said members of the public had been calling police reporting large gatherings and people who are not self-isolating when they should be.
‘[We’ve also received calls] about businesses they think are open when they shouldn’t be as well,’ he said.
‘We have had a few calls in relation to gatherings of people that people are concerned about so we’ve been sort of looking to respond to all of those calls.
‘Lives will depend on everyone doing the right thing and particularly at the moment it’s an important time when we live in such a world where the individual comes first, at the moment community must come first.’
Mr Ashton said police are yet to issue fines to anyone as people who haven’t complied didn’t understand the rules.
‘They have been deeply apologetic and they’re doing the right thing now. We’ve applied the common sense principle to that,’ he said.
He said if police catch people who are deliberately and knowingly breaking the rules, they will be fined.
‘We’ll go down that track if we find someone is absolutely flouting it,’ he said.
Mr Ashton also said the need to declare a state of emergency will depend on how people behave, noting that so far people have been largely following restrictions.
‘I’m starting to see the encouraging signs about community behaviour which is terrific, it means they are heeding the strong words the premier’s been putting out,’ he said.
About 400 police staff are self-isolating as a result of potential contact with infected people, while two officers were earlier diagnosed with COVID-19.
Mr Ashton said the force has also been bracing for an increase in family violence as people are forced to stay indoors and employment issues cause stress, but the rates were remaining steady for now.