COP: “We’ll catch you”

COP: “We’ll catch you”
(FILE PHOTO)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS  — While there have been fewer officers seen stationed at checkpoints on New Providence during curfew, dozens of mobile patrol cars are patroling areas through the night, said Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle yesterday.

Rolle was responding to questions from reporters regarding the level of manpower at checkpoints during the curfew and weekend lockdowns.

He noted that police have been adjusting their strategies throughout the pandemic.

“As we have found that persons have been more and more compliant, we put minimal stationary points, but we increased the police presence by mobile patrol,” he said.

“So any given night now we have per shift we have 45-50 patrol cars. Some are marked, some are undercover. We’ll catch you.”

New Providence and Abaco are currently on an 8pm – 5am daily curfew with 24-hour weekend lockdowns.

The latest maintains countrywide guidelines on mask-wearing, social distancing, and sanitizing, and for every person who leaves their residence to carry government-issued identification.

COVID-19 Enforcement Unit 

COP Rolle noted that the COVID-19 Enforcement Unit has also made adjustments to its strategy now that the country is opened.

“It is more on the enforcement part of it now with the COVID enforcement unit and making sure all of these public spaces as we try to move towards the new normal that we encourage people to abide by those rules,” he said.

Rolle noted that there have been fewer reports of individuals having large gatherings and events and commended the public for that.

“At some point, people will get the message that what they are doing is wrong,” he said.

“I want to commend the public that the message is getting through.

“We have seen fewer of these breaches with persons having parties and those large-scale gatherings. But we still want to encourage them to continue to abide by them.

He noted that individuals are still being monitored under the HubbCat program.

About Sloan Smith

Sloan Smith is a senior digital reporter at Eyewitness News, covering a diverse range of beats, from politics and crime to environment and human interest. In 2018, Sloan received a nomination for the “Leslie Higgs Feature Writer of The Year Award” from The Bahamas Press Club for her work with Eyewitness News.