NSW Police instructed not to issue warnings or cautions when dealing with public health order breaches

Police instructed to scale back warnings or cautions when dealing with public health order breaches.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller speaks at press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

The NSW Police Commissioner has issued a directive to all officers ordering them to significantly scale back warnings and cautions to people who allegedly breach the state’s public health orders, in a move that is likely to result in a steep increase in fines and other penalties across NSW.

In an email to officers obtained by The Australian, senior police advise that the police commissioner had authorised measures that would be implemented as part of Operation Stay at Home 2021, which took effect at 12:01am on Monday.

Officers are being told that if they are considering using discretion to issue a warning or caution they must first seek permission from a superior, a step described by a police source as highly irregular and possibly unprecedented.

The email emphasises that the request not to issue an on-the-spot penalty will also have to be recorded in police logs for accountability purposes.

“(The) Operation is focused on enforcement of the Public Health Orders and any breach identified should be prosecuted to the letter of the law,” the email says.

“Warnings and Cautions during the next few weeks of the operation should be limited and if used will need to be authorised by a Supervisor or Inspector and recorded in the event.”

A NSW Police spokesman said warnings could still be issued by officers but they would need to be justified as part of paper records of the interaction.

“A constable’s decision on appropriate action – whether to warn, caution or prosecute – is still their individual decision. However, any action or inaction needs to be justified in the COPS event,” he said.

The NSW Government announced over the weekend that much steeper penalties would be introduced at the request of Police Commissioner Mick Fuller, who has assumed control of managing the state’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Breaches of self-isolation rules have been increased at his request from $1000 to $5000, while breaches of two-person outdoor exercise exemptions have risen from $1000 to $3000.

A $5000 penalty will also be issued for lying to a contact tracer or lying on a permit; a $3000 fine has been introduced for breaching entry rules to regional NSW.

The email continues: “The rapid spread of the Coronavirus Delta Variant within New South Wales has out-paced the previously successful strategies used to contain the previous variants of the Coronavirus during the pandemic.”

Since the start of the pandemic the NSW Police Force has publicly stressed that its intention has been to educate rather than fine individuals for breaches of the public health orders.

Cases where individuals have been fined or charged have often followed instances where they had received prior warnings. Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Friday that she was becoming “tired of hearing people saying” that they were confused by health orders, which have been altered dozens of times since the start of the pandemic.

Officers increased their presence at Sydney’s beaches and parks over the weekend in preparation for a scale-up of their operations, but they appeared to err on the side of caution when dealing with individuals allegedly in breach of the health orders.

In one instance at Bondi Beach, officers approached a group of men congregating in breach of the exemptions. The men, who were not exercising or purchasing food, were told by the incredulous officers to “at least get a coffee” to justify their reason for being outdoors.

A NSW Police spokesman said warnings could still be issued by officers but they would need to be justified as part of paper records of the interaction.

“A constable’s decision on appropriate action – whether to warn, caution or prosecute – is still their individual decision. However, any action or inaction needs to be justified in the COPS event,” he said.