Police say they have arrested nine young men in communities of the greater Roseau area as they move to ensure that residents comply with a curfew now in effect on the island.
The men were arrested on Wednesday, 8th April 2020, for not having a valid reason for being in a public place.
Police Public Relations Officer, Inspector Simon Edwards, told Dominica News Online (DNO) that the arrests were made in Fond Cole, Independent Street and Loubiere.
The men were charged on Thursday 9th, April 2020, under the Emergency Powers Act for breach of curfew, were granted bail and are due to appear in court at a later date.
Deputy Chief of Police, Lincoln Corbette, made the point at a COVI-19 Update press briefing on Thursday that the men were arrested during daylight hours.
“Note I said during daylight hours,” Corbette stressed, adding, “We will use every legal means to ensure and enforce compliance to the SRO.”
On Monday the 6th of April 2020 the House of Assembly met in an emergency session to extend the State of Emergency, proclaimed on April 1, by 3 months to June 30 and the curfew order, by an additional 21 days, to May 11, 2020.
According to Corbette, the order approved by parliament imposes a whole day curfew on the island.
The Deputy Chief admonished the general public to adhere to the curfew conditions
“While not targeting any particular community, we have, however, noticed in some communities not all citizens are complying.”
He said the police had stepped up activities to ensure the closure of Dominica’s seaports to seafaring and private boating.
Corbette also stated that all yachts entering Dominica’s territorial waters were being boarded to verify proper documentation and between Apri 4 and April 7, four yachts coming from Martinique and Guadeloupe were turned away.
Arrest, bail, and court time is a hella excessive punishment for such a petty crime? Why not issue a fine and let the person go already. This sh*t ain’t that serious! It wasn’t serious when we were calling on the authorities to shut off the access into the island so don’t punish these nine persons for your failures of leadership.
Sad…i can think of many situations where police needed to step up there presence and failed. It is ironic now that in this pandemic is when the police find it best to flex there power
People Jason is a con artist. I don’t know how you people are still being fooled by Jason. I grew up with him ,I know him. Jason is using politics to push his agenda . I am 100 % workers . Jason is not anywhere . Not Workers , not labour not freedom. No even Masterlyn Labad would want Jason. As a matter of fact he is one to fake having cover 19 virus just for the attention.
Dem kinda work is a joy for all you.
Whilst you are making arrest. You should.visit the village of.Bellecue Chopin where shops are opened and alcohol is being sold. Now.to.make matters worse one officer is partaking in such activity..
SHAKA ZULU is like LAZARUS.MR.LINCOLN CORBETTE is one of the most EDUCATED POLICEMAN in the FORCE,far more educated than CARBON.CORBETTE should be COMMISSIONER.LINCOLN CORBETTE and PHILLSBERT BERTRAND are the last two GENUINE POLICEMEN in Dominica.THEY DO NOT TAKE BS.Shaka go back to your GRAVE.LIAR.
Let me remind you of a Mr. Hobbs john Baptist who was very educated. But he was not a politician. The last police Commissioner we had in Dominica was Al P. Everyone with the exception of Hobbs came in because of their political leanings. The deterioration started with with Lestrade who was a kiss assets. He once tried sending a unit he was incharge to a sister island during crisis and excluded himself. He was good at opening his big mouth and trying sound intelligent. If Corbette want to prove his worth he need to discipline his men serve the country and start investigating all crimes including those suspected to be committed by politicians. Then and only then he will prove his worth. Until then his education is worthless.
I just hope that in a few years Mr Corbett and the rest of the police force will be able to look back on how they acted during the PANICdemic and be proud of and comfortable with the actions they took. Or is it already too late?
A few years ago Corbett was put on leave for shooting a guy at convent ………………………… Even while on suspension he disobeyed rules by wearing his uniform in Roseau in defiance. Later on the plaintiff decided not to press charges. I am left to wonder if someone in Authority had a hand to play in this. Today Corbett has been put in a made up position and seems to be the defacto commisioner. He also seems to be in service to the leader of parliament not the state. There is precedence for this. A young officer from north was investigated for money missing ……………….. He was asked to move to special branch and since then is glued to PM. Its a case of interference and favours for loyalty. That guy is dumb as they get but gets promoted because of favors not capability. Dominica need a purge in every corner of society. The Chinese have assisted in implementing their Gov system and I am sorry for yall.
But where is the Cor Miss Shonna of Police nuh?
As if is always the deh pugh tee that always talking
And in the meantime the Speaker of the House outside giving out food.
Ref a Jason,The process of contact tracing was not followed.This was a Political
Process.
The correct process of tracing is simple with no requirement of threats to arrest.
Locate the suspect,check the condition by a MEDICAL OPERATIVE,ascertain the condition,if temp,cough,pain are absent Swab the suspect and place in home isolation for two weeks.Send swab for inspection.
We were informed that this was the process being followed by the Medical Officer in previous release.What went wrong??
Great job!I don’t care whether they are family or friends, arrest them if you have to! Some people don’t take this seriously and some are just too rebellious! We should all do our part whatever that may be, for us to get rid of this.I know some will be all up in their habitual “Skerro this “ and “ Linton that “,now is not the time for that.Whether you agree with the decisions taken on your behalf or not, humble yourselves and obey.You MIGHT just live to express yourselves again when this is all over.Lets get together on this one.Lets do it to save ourselves and others.
Mr. Corbett I congratulate Jason Fontaine for submitting to the harassment be of the police and doctor and instead of refusing to go on the police truck to be quarantined in Portsmouth, he chose to get on the truck. Only God knows what the police would have done to Jason if he had not submitted to the evil plot of Skerrit and his army, which the medical staff seems to be part of. It is wrong to force someone into quarantine if he is not tested positive or just not tested at all for COVID-19. The way Jason was handled it is clear that it was an official decision to harrass him and even to put him in a position to get him infected with COVID-19. To me that’s a crime against humanity and I hope the UN, WHO and PAHO get to know about this abuse of COVID-19. I hope DNO does not get involved in that cover-up of the Evil of the government by not posting our comments so the International does not know about the abuse of COVID-19 taking place here
The way Skerrit using Covid-19 to go after his political opponents makes it very frightening to live in Dominica during this pandemic. To make things worse he is using the police and now the medical team to go after those that oppose him and his corruption. Right now I am very concerned if not scared for Jason Fontaine, since we all know that he was elected to serve in the Laplaine village council twice but rejected by Skerrit until he won a third time before he was sworn in. The way Jason was surrounded by police as if he was a criminal on the run, just because a person who tested positive said he was in contact with Jason is really crazy and very frightening man. If Jason had no symptoms of Covid-19, why not ask him to quarantine in his house since he lives by himself? Make things worse you just released 7 patients that once tested positive and sent them home. Why not give Jason that same treatment since he is healthy and has no symptoms?
Stop it you too political get a life
I would never believe anything from that con artist. I’m sorry that you were fooled….smh
WHO and CDC are funded by Bill Gates money and of course he has a lot of input. Next is forced vaccination against a non-existent “virus.” People love being duped and used. This is the mark of the beast. After you are vaccinated, they brand you like a cow so that they know you are one of the herd and have been chipped via the vaccine. Now you are totally under the control of the elite.
I use to support the police, medical staff and government with the curfew but after listening to Jason on Q95 today, I conclude that the authorities are using curfew to attack and harrass their political opponents and as a result all my support for that brutal system is gone. I have not seen anywhere that PAHO or WHO told government’s that if someone was in contact with a person a month before he tested positive, the government should use the police and doctor to harrass a person because he criticizes the government and then to go to his house with a police squad and force him into a police truck to be quarantined 40 miles from his house. Not only that but the man has no symptoms, no doctor or nurse tested him and with a 96.2 temperature. This is Gross wickedness and evil that must be reported to the international community because Skerrit must understand that Dominica is not Venezuela. When they are using Covid-19 to abuse their opponents how do they expect us to trust them?
You all voted for him. All you were warned. The man is a dictator and he will tell his militia to harass everybody that does not support his evil ways.
I doubt that everyone voted for Skerritt. The whole election was a scam.
There are laws in the land and criminals will use any means they can to break the law and no one is above the law. If you should do a research on this persons life,you would be ashamed of your comments.
The police doing more harm than good. Are they observing the 6ft distancing with these arrests? Are they transporting those arrested in a vehicle that is sanitized and disinfected? Are they transporting them 6ft apart from each other? Fortunately for the the attorneys here don’t sue them. I am for police and support the curfew but it is wrong to use Covid-19 to push a political agenda.
Well fight Covid on Q95 still. They tell you quarantine for 2 weeks, if you don’t you’ll be thrown in a party wagon and forced to quarantine whether u love the govt or not it’s for the greater good, I think u should be jailed. You are not yet voted in to run the country, change strategy and wait your turn. Now sit there and stfu.