One rule for them? Cops WON’T be punished for throwing an office party with rainbow decorations and buffet for ‘LGBTQI awareness day’
- Staff at a police station in Sydney Covid hotspot pictured hosting office party
- More than a dozen staff gathered in a common room to share platters of food
- NSW Police launched internal investigation to see if lockdown rules breached
- It concluded no health orders were breached and no further action will be taken
Police officers who threw an office party for LGBTQIA awareness in a Covid-19 hotspot during lockdown won’t face any punishment for the celebration.
NSW Police launched an internal investigation into the celebrations held at a western Sydney station on August 27 after photos from the event were posted online.
More than a dozen employees at Mount Druitt Police gathered together in a brightly decorated common room to share buffet platters of food.
The photos post to the local area command’s Facebook page showed staff around a party table at the station, located in one of the 12 Covid-hit LGAs of concern, as they celebrated Wear It Purple Day to support the LGBTQIA+ community.
No further action will be taken after the investigation concluded attendees had complied with public health orders.
Mt Druitt Police Area Command posted a pictured on Friday of an office function where more than a dozen staff gathered in a common room (pictured)
‘Following an internal review, no breaches of the Public Health Order were detected,’ a police spokesman told the Daily Telegraph.
Investigators had found the size of the room where the party was held was large enough for the group, police sources told the publication.
The Facebook post by police was later deleted after it sparked public outrage.
One of the officers pictured wasn’t wearing a mask, which are mandatory in indoor venues.
While emergency services are exempt from the no gathering and one person per 4sq rules, the exemption was designed so they can carry out their work.
Office functions, however, are discouraged under public health orders and the state’s chief health officer has repeatedly said office workers should not gather in lunchrooms or tearooms.
One officer was pictured not wearing a mask which is required in public indoor venues
‘It is important that all workplaces consider their Covid-safe plans,’ Dr Kerry Chant said last week.
‘Make sure you are not sharing the tea room, you are wearing masks, you have four-metre density and make sure you do not attend when you have symptoms.’
Mount Druitt is in the Blacktown local government area, which is one of the highest rates of Covid cases since Sydney’s second wave Delta outbreak began in mid-June.
In the last four weeks there have been 2,159 Covid cases in Blacktown LGA, with 1,439 not linked to a known case or cluster.
NSW recorded 1,485 new cases on Sunday as Sydneysiders entered their 12th week in lockdown.
NSW Police said they were looking into the party (pictured) to see if any lockdown rules had been breached