Only one COVID citation issued during Labor Day weekend

LIHU‘E — Last week, officials with state and county offices urged against gathering during the Labor Day weekend, establishing a new emergency rule with the ability to hand out $250 fines to individuals and $500 fines to business owners and event organizers for breaking COVID-19 safety rules.

And it seems to have worked.

This past three-day weekend, only one citation under Emergency Rule No. 26 was issued to an individual, according to the Kaua‘i Police Department.

The county’s Department of Parks &Recreation rangers, county Department of Liquor Control investigators and state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement officers, all authorized to issue citations, issued none over the long weekend.

There was, however, one COVID-related violation arrest, KPD reported.

“We made numerous checks at known gathering locations, organized events, restaurants and bars,” KPD Patrol Services Bureau Assistant Chief Mark Begley said. “The vast majority of places we visited were in compliance with the safety requirements. We also gave various individuals instruction on how to abide by the safety requirements.”

Department of Parks &Recreation officials responded to gatherings at beach parks, where they issued warnings, county officials said. “However, people voluntarily dispersed and, ultimately, no citations were given,” a county spokesperson said.

In one instance, a group at Lydgate Park scattered before KPD could investigate.

“There was one large gathering in Lydgate that quickly disbanded after learning that the officers were going to cite every individual in their group for noncompliance,” Begley said. “The officers were unable to identify the organizer, who would have otherwise been cited.”

•••

Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.