Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Chief Hugh Stevenson says city police officers have yet to issue an offence notice relating to gatherings of more than five people.
Between March 30 and April 16, the police service responded to 54 calls regarding social gatherings as part of the ongoing enforcement of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, which went into effect across Ontario March 28.
“As of this date, we haven’t had the need to lay those offence notices. However, if we have to deal with the same group twice and they were warned, offence notices will be issued,” Stevenson told SooToday Friday.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service uses a three-step graduated approach to enforcing the ban on gathering of more than five people - education, warning and the issue of a provincial offence notice.
Failure to comply with the social gathering portion of the provincial act comes with a minimum fine of $750 up to a maximum of $100,000 and one year imprisonment.
A total of 12 groups have been ‘educated’ out of the more than 50 social gathering calls that Sault Ste. Marie Police Service has responded to over the past couple of weeks.
“The education piece is basically, ‘these are what the rules are.’ The warning piece is, if they were aware of the education piece and they’re in a position where they’re violating, that’s when we warn them,” Stevenson said.
The police chief says that four warnings over two weeks in a city of 70,000-plus is “pretty good,” and that the service’s graduated approach enables it to continually get the education component of its enforcement out to the public.
“I think it’s working. I honestly believe that Saultites have got the message that if we want to get through this sooner than later - and we all do - we all have to abide by the rules so the spread does not increase, so we can flatten the curve,” Stevenson said.
More information on the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act can be found on the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service website.