Police conduct public health order compliance checks at Bondi Beach on Sunday.Credit:Brook Mitchell
A NSW Police spokeswoman said day three of the operation saw more than 700 people charged or fined for breaching public health orders. Police have issued more than 23,000 infringement notices since March 17 last year.
Mr Fuller said the tickets issued over the past four months were “five times the year before that” and credited a decline in cases in Fairfield,in Sydney’s west,with police activity.
“Can I ask and can I challenge you for the next 21 days that we go high-level enforcement,that we prioritise this outside of our first response capabilities? Let’s get out of lockdown,let’s get ahead of the Delta variant,let’s make the people proud of NSW Police,” he said.
He asked police to enforce “with vigour” the permit system for people travelling to regional NSW,as well as the five-kilometre radius for exercise,“particularly around our beaches,where I received a number of complaints from people,and around our parks”.
Out in force:Police in western Sydney speaking to a man not wearing a mask.Credit:Louise Kennerley
Former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions,Nicholas Cowdery QC,said while it was important all legitimate means be used to deal with the crisis,it was a “failure of leadership to tell officers in advance that if they get something wrong,there will be no consequences”.
“A leader should be encouraging all officers under his or her command to comply with the law and do the right thing,and making it clear that if that doesn’t happen,there will be consequences,” Mr Cowdery said.
The former NSW Council for Civil Liberties president added that notions of community policing in NSW had taken decades to build up and were “not to be lightly cast aside”.
“The community expects that the community will be there for them,not always at them,” he said.
Macquarie University adjunct professor of law George Newhouse,who also heads the National Justice Project legal service,said the approach promoted by Mr Fuller seemed counterproductive to the desired health outcomes.
“Police need to learn to work co-operatively with the community and not use bullying and harassment tactics. It just breaks down the trust that is necessary,” he said.
The ramped up police presence,including aerial patrols,in south-west and western Sydney has caused increased anxiety among residents.
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Cumberland mayor Steve Christou,who said he had declined a police request to close outdoor gym and play equipment,said he had been told of a man who’d been fined for forgetting to check in to a service station where he was filling his vehicle with petrol.
“An absolutely hard-line measure is not the way to go where people are already struggling,” he said.
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