Police will limit vehicle access to tourist areas and establish a patrol plan

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After weeks of reports of incidents from tourists and crowds, particularly in Old St. John and County, authorities announced today, Monday, that they will limit vehicle access to tourist areas and a patrol plan with more officers to try to stop violations of the executive order against COVID-19.

Leaving a meeting with members of the Department of Health and the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Secretary of Public Safety Alexis Torres explained the plan to have more Puerto Rican police personnel present in the tourist areas, which will be added to the efforts of the inspectors of the Office of Health Research for months.

Relive the press conference:

For his part, the Commissioner of State Police, Antonio López Figueroa, has indicated that “We will increase resources to increase mobility in the County, Old St. John and Green Island.” Specifically, he detailed that they will be assigned to “The Motorized Unit in County and Old St. John’s because it’s the most accessible vehicle for these places.”

In addition, more Road Patrol officers will be assigned at certain strategic points to control vehicular flow at the business closing time, which is at 11:00 pm, and the curfew, which is at 12 noon: 00 from midnight to 5 p.m.

“Traffic control will be from 11:00 pm. Vehicle flow will be controlled. Only residents, people who are staying, employees and taxis and (drivers of transport companies such as) Uber will have access “, Argued Lopez Figueroa.

“The same strategy will be used for the San Sebastian Street Festival,” he said.

He added that people “going for a walk” will not be able to pass because “at 11:00 pm the shops close and at 12:00 pm everyone has to be at home. Let’s be very energetic. We’re going to intervene and we’re going to raure (charges), ”he abounded.

From fines to imprisonment: these are the penalties for mocking the executive order against COVID-19

The police chief assured that he has the cooperation of the Secretary of Justice, Domingo Emanuelli, and his chief prosecutor, Melissa Vázquez Sandoval, to process complaints in court expeditiously, so that the accused tourists cannot escape. the jurisdiction leaving Puerto Rico if the summons is for many days after the intervention.

Likewise, the commissioner of the Uniformada called on the owners of shops and inns to file complaints about the violations that take place in their establishments.

As an example, he mentioned that after the fight that took place on Saturday night at the Sheraton Hotel of the Convention Center in Miramar, the management did not want to proceed with the lawsuit for the filing of charges.

The colonel too ask citizens who record videos posted on social media about incidents caused by tourists to immediately call the 9-1-1 Emergency System to alert them to the situation.

“If an hour later the video is uploaded to social networks, when you get to the site it has already happened and the people who caused the situation are no longer there,” said López Figueroa, who defended the conduct of the police, so far, highlighting that from Thursday to yesterday they have issued 428 traffic tickets and 111 for not wearing masks.

What about scooters?

The official reported that he is already in communication with the owners of the company Skootel, which rents electric “scooters” to begin coordination on the use of these vehicles.

He went on to say that they have already reached an agreement so that they cannot be rented from 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm and all are off.

“And we are in talks with Senator (Gregory) Matías to enact legislation to limit its use to bicycle areas. This is a motor vehicle and according to Law 22 (on Traffic) it cannot go on public roads,” he said. exhibited López Figueroa.

The DSP secretary posted the call for the meeting on his Twitter account yesterday, after seeing first-hand on Saturday night how many people remained in the county late at night, when already the curfew came into effect.

Torres last night accompanied the director of the Research Office of the Department of Health, Jesús Hernández, who intervened with several businesses.

The San Juan Municipal Police was trying to support Health, which was hampered by the amount of car traffic in the County area, where even a man in a state of intoxication collided with the official vehicle. of colonel Jose Juan Garci’a.

Eventually they set up patrols in two of the main accesses to control the flow of vehicles, which they also had to do at the entrance to Old Sant Joan.

Torres also noted the difficulties faced by Department of Health inspectors in getting tourists to comply with the executive order.

However, inspectors carried out 25 interventions, between Friday night and yesterday morning, in businesses in the metropolitan area, which culminated in the closure of 15 establishments and fines for another 10.

In addition, they intervened with tourists who violated the Travel Declaration Form established in Puerto Rico, the agency reported on Sunday.

This morning it was reported that the Department of Justice file charges against three tourists who allegedly swore they would remain in quarantine by the COVID-19[feminine a l’arribar a Puerto Rico, però van ser localitzats durant un operatiu al barri La Perla, a Sant Joan, per agents de la Policia i inspectors de salut.

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