The following statement was issued on Tuesday morning by Acting Chief Rod Stafford of the Weyburn Police Service in regards to how the police enforce the restrictions relating to COVID-19 in Weyburn:
A media release was circulated locally on April 2 under the authority of the Chief of Police which dealt with, among other issues relating to Covid-19, the position of the Weyburn Police Service that the social distancing requirements that have been widely publicized both at national and provincial levels and spoke about repeatedly by Public Health officials since the beginning of measures to counteract COVID-19 was in fact the state of the law in both Saskatchewan and in Canada.
We took this position based on the number of violations our officers have encountered where social distancing in purely public social settings was being ignored and where people were found to be driving around simply for the sake of driving where none of the occupants of the vehicle were from the same household.
That position has caused some confusion and concern in the community particularly as it may relate to having more than one person, not from the same address, in a vehicle. A lack of clear information on the subject in either the Public Health Orders or elsewhere in the various pieces of legislation has also added to this confusion.
Although the Weyburn Police Service fielded numerous calls over the weekend relating to this particular concern, there have been no charges laid and no investigations conducted.
The authority of police to enforce and prosecute this and other social distancing offences is under consideration by those who are empowered to make those interpretations and decisions. The matter is actively under discussion at the highest levels.
Until that opinion is researched and received, the Weyburn Police Service will not be enforcing general social distancing requirements outside of those specifically found in the various Public Health Orders.
This does not mean that the two-metre social distancing standard has been set aside, only that at this time and pending further clarification or direction to the contrary from Public Health Officials, the Weyburn Police Service will not be enforcing this particular aspect.
I apologize for any inconvenience the April 2nd release may have caused. Further and final clarification on this matter will be broadcast once an interpretation and decision has been received.
