Police Commissioner Andrew Coster:
Police around the country will step up their visibility and road patrols to
ensure people are complying with the Alert Level 4 restrictions, and staying
home.
With the Alert Level remaining the same for the weekend, we ask New
Zealanders to continue to ensure their movement away home is for essential
purposes only.
All Police districts will ensure they have high visibility in the community
where people are accessing essential services, and on the roads, to deter
travel that is not essential.
The vast majority of New Zealanders have demonstrated an amazing level of
compliance, and we need to ensure their hard work and sacrifice is not
compromised by a few who deliberately break the rules.
People can expect that police will intensify our enforcement of the Level 4
restrictions, and more people will be stopped and questioned about their
reason for moving away from home.
We are already prepared for an alert level change and our planning includes a
more stringent approach to non-essential movement in the current Level 4.
Our operational planning is well-advanced and we are ready to move quickly to
establish region-specific boundaries to enforce any alert level changes.
The official locations for these will be publicised once the Health Order has
been received.
New Zealanders have responded well to the latest restrictions, and the vast
majority of people have been doing the right thing.
As we have all through Alert Level 4, staff will look to ensure people
understand the restrictions, but we will take enforcement action where
necessary.