On Saturday, 725 cases were initiated and 613 on Sunday, while on New Year's Eve police caught over 1,500 offenders.
More than 20,000 persons have been checked since last Wednesday night. Police observed that with every day more and more people had realized they needed to carry a confirmation of necessity to leave the house.
Around 3,500 cases of administrative infringement have been started, and 500-1,000 could still be added following investigation.
The police were given excuses by offenders that some had not known about the rules, others did not believe in Covid-19, but another had decided to go get a hot dog.
State Police representative Lauris Arājs said that "these numbers show the attitude of some individuals towards the law. It has to be emphasized that many people were aware of the rules, stayed at home, did not go outside."
On December 31 and January 1, more than 60 drivers were caught under the influence and violating other traffic rules.
For example, police in Tukums on Saturday night stopped a company shortly after 22:00, who were driving around past curfew. The driver did not have a driver's license, for which he got a €400 penalty. A further €200 penalty was imposed on breaking curfew.
There were three more passengers in this car who were drunk and showed aggression against the police, so one received a €300 penalty and two €1,500 penalty.
“In a number of cases where law enforcement have found that persons have breached the rules, attitudes from these individuals have been quite aggressive. People have failed to comply with the legitimate demands of police officers, addressed offensive phrases to officials, also physically opposed police officers, pushed, made threats and, in some cases, also hit them,” said State Police representative Simona Grāvīte.
Criminal proceedings have been launched in these cases.
Curfew is lifted on working days this week but is in force again from January 8 to 10.
