Police have handed out more than $165,000 worth of fines and dozens of court attendance orders related to public health orders aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, with about one-third of all fines issued in just four areas – Sydney City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool and Fairfield.
NSW Police has provided location details for 129 of the 151 fines issued since March 17. Of these, nearly half have been issued in regional areas, which account for about 35 percent of the state’s 2800 confirmed cases. Eight fines have been issued in areas with no cases – Cobar, Narrabri, Bourke and Moree Plains.
A NSW Police spokesperson said there was no correlation between the number of people with the virus in a specific area and the number of people who have breached the public health order.
However, legal experts have raised concerns that the fines, which are $1000 for individuals and $5000 for businesses, could disproportionately affect people in lower socioeconomic areas.
Professor in Criminology at the University of Sydney Law School Murray Lee said the data suggested a map of disadvantage could be emerging, whereby those in lower socioeconomic areas are more likely to be slugged with a hefty fine.
The most fines and court notices outside Sydney have been issued in Shoalhaven, with eight fines, and Wagga Wagga and Lake Macquarie, with five in each. Shoalhaven has 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases and Wagga Wagga has 10 and Lake Macquarie has 47. In comparison, a total of three infringements have been given to the same man in the northern beaches, where there are 146 confirmed cases. There are 174 confirmed cases in Waverley.
Last week, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said he would review each fine personally.
However, solicitor with the Redfern Legal Centre’s police accountability practice Samantha Lee said it would be more useful for Mr Fuller to provide police with clearer guidelines on issuing fines to ensure there was consistency.
“These are some of the most hefty fines and we’re calling for a release of any guidelines and standard operating procedures that are being made available to police,” Ms Lee said.
Ms Lee noted that discrepancies between how police in different areas issued fines were emerging. Details about individual fines indicate that some have been issued after individuals ignored previous warning while others have been issued on the first instance.
NSW Police Association president Tony King said police did not want to issue fines, rather they would prefer to be engaging and reassuring the community.
“Unfortunately, when we see people breaking isolation rules it is putting everyone in the community at risk,” he said. “To keep people safe, police have to, unfortunately, fine people.”
Read the full article here (Sydney Morning Herald, 9 April 2020)
