Police chief says her officers will cite, arrest those who ignore emergency orders

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Police Chief Susan Ballard is pledging strong, islandwide enforcement of planned park and beach closures on Oahu that begin at midnight Friday.

The closures are aimed at stopping people from gathering ― and spreading COVID-19.

Ballard said a “COVID enforcement team” of 160 officers will be charged every day with ensuring the emergency orders are being followed. And she urged residents to take the rules seriously.

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“With all this enforcement going on ... at this point, we’re probably going to do very few warnings,” she said. “It’s probably going to be citations or arrests.”

Additionally, the Honolulu Police Department is setting up an enforcement hotline: 723-3900.

The hotline will be operational starting Sunday at 10 a.m.

People can also send suspected violations to hpdcovidenforce@honolulu.gov.

Ahead of the closure of beaches and parks, Ballard urged residents to do what they can to stop the spread of the virus.

“We need to get this state open. We need to get our island open. We need to get back to normal,” Ballard said. “I’m just begging you, please, we got 28 days. Let’s show that we can do this.”

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