Cancun, Q.R. — The city of Cancun has created a special police unit to deal with non-compliance of Covid-19 health protocols. Cancun mayor Mara Lezama says that the city now has a Covid Reaction Police team that will begin operating August 3.
She says a team of 30 elements from the Municipal Secretariat of Public Security and Traffic of Benito Juárez will form part of the Policía de Reacción COVID, adding that they have been trained to assist the federal and state governments in the implementation of sanitary measures. Lezama stressed that their job is to create awareness about prevention and to monitor the correct application of sanitary measures.
The general secretary of Benito Juárez city council Issac Janix Alanís explained “these units are made up of agents from the municipal public security who received training on the virus, prevention measures and on federal reprimands and who will act with due respect for human rights and the Constitution at the time of validating this new sanction.”
The specialized team will also respond to citizen reports of mass concentrations of people.
“It has been the case that people wait for the patrol to leave to return to the site, which will be taken as a repeat offense and for which we will proceed more vigorously because we cannot allow this situation to continue,” he added.
Janix Alanís pointed out that fines will be imposed by a judge and in the event that it is not paid, an arrest will be carried out for a maximum of 36 hours.
“On public roads we will continue to exhort, we will not arrest anyone who goes without a face mask, but the moment the citizen enters an establishment, it will be his responsibility,” he explained noting that sanctions will apply in sports areas, domes, street markets, public transport, worship centers and restaurants where there are certain health measures that the state has set.
Earlier this week, the city of Cancun announced the modification a bill that will allow fines and arrests for those found in non-compliance of the state’s mandatory health protocols. Just yesterday, Tulum became the first city in the state to exercise the newly modified law, arresting a citizen found in public without a mask guard.