Persons take great risk in ignoring evacuation orders — Drayton

Police Information Officer Diane Drayton has warned that persons may be putting themselves at great risk by ignoring an evacuation order in times of disaster.

While appearing on the Talking Points radio show recently, Drayton said it may be very difficult for some persons to obey such orders and leave everything behind that they value dearly.

“It’s very hard, but I think everything can go but your life,” Drayton stated. And this is usually, you know, life-threatening circumstances. So, it is what we want people to understand.”

Drayton was keen to note that police officers cannot forcibly remove persons from an area in times of disaster. However, she advised that once an advisory or order is issued for evacuation by the Governor, then persons should obey that order.

“You are putting your life at great risk, should you remain,” Drayton said. “[Once an order is issued], I believe that the people should act on it.”

Such decisions by the Governor, she further explained, usually come after a consultation process with the National Security Council, which includes representatives from various agencies with relevant expertise.

The Information Officer stressed that these decisions by the Governor are not made in isolation and said it was very important that the public should understand this.

Drayton referred to the chaos that was obtained in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma and suggested that the police may not have been equipped with sufficient tools to address the issue at that time.

“What we have in our arsenal, is the Curfew Act,” she said. “We did not have that in 2017. But we have it now.”

“Before [this Curfew Act], the police had no teeth with which they could plead with you, beg with you to close your store — let your employees go home so they can prepare themselves. Get off the street.” Drayton expressed.

She said with the Act now in place, this allows the National Security Council along with Cabinet to decide when a curfew should be put in place.

“That now will aid police, because now they can enforce that curfew, if you choose not to close your store, you could be arrested, and your customers will leave,” she explained.

According to this Curfew legislation, a person who is in contravention of Section 4 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.