Covid 19 coronavirus: Police figures suggest Kiwis too eager to dob each other in during lockdown

StatNation

Kiwis were more than happy to dob in each other to the authorities during the coronavirus lockdown but it appears many were too eager.

During the Covid-19 pandemic response in alert levels 4, 3 and 2, the public was encouraged to report restriction rule breakers.

Police enforcement statistics from the coronavirus pandemic response reveals there were 55,401 more breaches lodged than police actions taken.

Surfers are spoken to and issued tickets by the police at Piha beach in April. Photo / Alex Burton

Assistant Commissioner Sue Schwalger told the Herald it was important to note "we took an education-first approach" during the pandemic response.

Not all reports of breaches were actual breaches, Schwalger said, with enforcement only used as the very last resort.

The biggest ratio between breaches reported and actions taken were recorded at Whitianga Police Station where 259 reports were made to just one action.

It was a similar story in the nearby Coromandel Police Station, the public reporting 77 total breaches compared to just one police action.

Thames Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie thought things went well throughout the lockdown considering the circumstances.

However, she had hoped if it were to happen again that constituents would be nicer to one another.

"There was no need for disrespectful behaviour,' she said. "I was disappointed that during the lockdown some people were not being nice to others.

"People were reporting others but they didn't know what they're reporting, other than that they were seeing them doing things.

"I believe people were both scared and worried for themselves and other people so their reactions were a bit mixed."

Elsewhere, in Linton, north of Palmerston North, and Paihia, Northland, there were 80 reports from the public each but no police action.

At the other end of the scale, Ranfurly Police Station recorded 13 police actions but fielded only three reports of breaches from the public.

The wider Auckland region had the most reports of violations per capita.

Waitematā Police District had the most reports from the public of breaches but had the lowest number of police actions per capita.

The district also had the highest number of reports received for each actual action taken by the police.

Elsewhere, Counties/Manukau had the most police actions due to breaches - both in the number of violations and violations per capita.

Across almost all police districts there was only about one per cent of calls for service which resulted in enforcement action, Schwalger said.

Police took action against breaches 7568 times with 7010 of those breaches considered to be in breach of the Health Act.

The majority of Health Act breaches came during alert level 4 with 5971 actions taken by police, compared to 999 in level 3 and 40 in level 2.

Civil Defence Emergency Management breaches were next with 556 total and "fail Covid-19 restrictions" lodged only two actions.

Thames Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie. Photo / File

Enforcement action could include a warning, youth referral or prosecution.

"Overall Police was happy that the majority of the public complied with Alert Level restrictions throughout levels 4, 3 and 2," Schwalger said.

"On receiving some reports, it was clear that there was no breach from the outset, but rather that people had misunderstood what was allowed under various alert levels. In these instances, Police may not have been required.

"Additionally we were pleased with how staff managed, employing our education-first approach throughout all levels."

Police Assistant Commissioner Sue Schwalger. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The information has been revealed by police online through their data website.

It reveals there was a grand total of 62,969 breaches during alert levels 4, 3, and 2, with most being individual persons, followed by businesses and gatherings.

The majority of breaches were also made by people aged between 20 to 30 years with 40.7 per cent, followed by 30 to 40 years with 28.1 per cent.

Males were caught breaking the restrictions more than females - 72.9 per cent compared to 27 per cent - and 0.1 per cent were classed as unknown.

The distribution by ethnicity of rule-breakers was very similar between European and Māori, who notched up 37.6 per cent and 36.1 per cent respectively.