Police checkpoints are now operating in both north and south Auckland with both running well overnight and no issues reported.

Between 11.59pm on August 31 and 3.30pm on September 2, a total of 7,663 vehicles were stopped at the five checkpoints on Auckland's southern boundary.

There were 267 vehicles turned away for non-essential travel, which is less than four per cent of all motorists.

The checkpoint with the most vehicles turned around was the Southbound checkpoint at SH1/Mercer off ramp where 115 vehicles were turned away.

'Data for the Northern checkpoints will be available on Saturday but we can say the teams saw very low numbers of cars through the five northern-based checkpoints and only a small number were turned around,” says Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.

'Overall, members of the public had the correct documentation to show Police at both checkpoints which was greatly appreciated.

'As is expected, we are seeing an increase in traffic [on Friday] but wait times are minimal.

'We are still having the odd person attempting to travel outside the restrictions, including a couple who told Police at the Mercer checkpoint they were going for a drive, however Police staff noticed on their phone that they had the directions to McDonalds Huntly open,” says Police Commissioner Coster.

'They were issued with an infringement notice and told to return home.

'Our 105 call takers are still receiving a number of calls around the exemption process, businesses asking if they can operate and people wanting to ask generally about what they can and can't do at the different alert levels.”

The police commissioner is urging the community to please make sure they are going to the Covid19 website for this information rather than the 105 line which is for reporting non-emergency crime.

'As we head into the weekend, we remind our communities across the country that we need to make sure we are staying home unless it is for permitted travel,” says Police Commissioner Coster.

'If you are in Alert level 3 you must still keep your bubble small and stay local.”

Police across the country will be highly visible, stopping people to question their movement and ensure it is for essential purposes only.

'If you are unsure of the rules then visit the Covid19 website.”

Compliance figures

Since Alert Level 4 came into place, 163 people have been charged with a total of 174 offences nationwide as at 5pm on September 2 2021.

Of the charges filed, 113 are for Failing to Comply with Order (COVID-19), 38 for Failure to Comply with Direction/Prohibition/Restriction, 18 for Health Act Breaches, and five for Assaults/Threatens/Hinders/Obstructs Enforcement Officer.

In the same time period, 456 people were warned for 459 offences.

Of the formal warnings 194 were for Failing to Comply with Order (COVID-19), 149 for Failure to Comply with Direction/Prohibition/Restriction, 115 for Health Act Breaches, and 1 for Assaults/Threatens/Hinders/Obstructs Enforcement Officer.

Since August 19 2021, Police have been issuing infringements for COVID-19 related breaches

As at 5pm on September 2 2021, Police have issued 3,082 infringements nationwide.

2,876 of these were issued under the previous Health Order, primarily for Person failed to remain at current home/residence other than for essential personal movement.

Since the new Health Order came into force on 1eptember 1, 206 infringements have been issued as follows:
· Left home / residence other than for essential personal movement (AL4) – 110
· Left home / residence other than for essential personal movement (AL3) – 76
· Other breaches under the new Health Order – 20

Police have now received a total of 15,269 105-online breach notifications.

9,273 were about a gathering, 4,501 were about a business, and 1,495 were about a person.

In addition to the online breach notifications, a total of 9,875 Covid-19 related calls were made to the 105-phone line.

The majority (7,165) of calls were requests for information, and 2,710 were to report perceived Covid-19 breaches.