As it got closer to 8 p.m. curfew on Saturday evening, TNN and Bermuda Reserve Police ( BRP) deputy commandant Ron-Michel Davis had observed many drivers racing to get to their homes on time. As a result of this racing, some of them were driving very carelessly and putting themselves and other drivers in danger.
“ I can guess that, in order to not have to pay a hefty fine in court, people are just racing [home] to beat the curfew instead of prior planning,” Mr. Davis said.
This evening, the BRP has 14 members on patrol throughout various parts of the island. According to Mr. Davis, Friday and Saturday evenings are usually the busiest nights for them, but it all depends.
“Last week, we had no breaches until around 11 p.m. But, after that, we had eight within a one-hour span,” he said. ‘“We can sometimes go an entire night without any breaches.”
The BRP have recently started patrolling on some of the smaller backroads, where they have seen quite a few breaches. Some places where breachers are frequently found are Ord Road, in between St. George’s and St. David’s, Glebe Road, North Shore Road and Mount Hill, to name a few.
Some of the most common excuses that officers have heard from alleged breachers are that they fell asleep at their partner’s residence, they had to ensure that their friend(s) got home safely and not really knowing what time it was or that there even was a curfew.
“We have seen some people try to evade being caught, but that does not happen too often,” Mr. Davis said.
However, BRP Inspector Shaun Russell slightly disagrees with this sentiment and believes that “runners” individual that pull chase have been a problem within the last few months.
“ Generally in later hours of the night is when we get the most activity from people who arrive at our checkpoints and turn around and go in the opposite direction,” he said. “We know just based on that behavior they do not have a valid reason for being out past curfew.”
There were even quite a few “runners” tonight so far tonight, but according to Inspector Russell, officers have been able to catch and apprehend some of them.
“We have had several breaches for the night, but I can say that it has been pretty good so far tonight in terms of catching those offenders,” he said.
Since some sort of curfew will be in place for a while, Mr. Davis advises the public to stay within the given guidelines in order to not receive any possible negative repercussions.
“ Our team is actually very lenient. Even though the curfew begins at 8 p.m., we do not start pulling people over until after 8,:30 pm” he said. “If people have a reasonable and realistic explanation as to why they are out, then the team is not going to breach. But if there is no good reason for being out, then our team has to do our jobs, because we have a duty.”
Mr. Davis would like to thank the public for their cooperation and acknowledges that these past few months have certainly not been easy.
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