Police checked 6,295 persons in total, of which 4,791 had a valid reason to be outside. 494 administrative infringement proceedings were initiated for law violations.
Latvian Television camera crew accompanied police in Liepāja and Saldus.
At 22:00, when curfew begins, 12 patrols went out on the streets of Liepāja. In the first half hour, people were only warned, and most had completed a self-certification.
The number of violators is declining every weekend, said police. In their opinion, this is because around 12 patrols are on duty in the city and people have noticed the increased police presence.
Midnight approaching, the number of violators was growing. Their excuses were different. For example, someone had fallen asleep while visiting someone else and was now going home.
“I'm a citizen, what's the problem? Have I stolen something? Have I done something? I haven't done anything. I'm going where I need to be and that is it.”
When the police said there was a state of emergency declared in the country and that nobody should be on the streets on weekend nights, he replied “no one had told him”.
Identity of all stopped people was checked. Sometimes it also turned out that a person had completed the self-certification, going to work, but the police had been looking for said person. For example, a woman was stopped after 22:00 and it turned out she had been sentenced to 6 months in prison.
LTV also joined the Saldus Police. In the city of Saldus, there have been few offenders since the first weekend of curfew, police said. Altogether, there were only a few incidents where the people fought for their rights.
“The idea is to try to prove that they do not have to comply with it, they believe that the rules are not correct,” said Uldis Plācis, senior inspector of the Saldus State Police.
The police recall that when you leave home during curfew, self-certification must be completed and an ID card or passport must also be taken.
