People can’t say they hadn’t been warned. The police waited a long time before beginning to issue fines to people who gather in groups of more than ten. Their instructions had been to break up the groups with “dialogue and instructions” (DK) and only to issue fines as a last resort if those methods didn’t work. Dialogue is always the preferred solution, they say. The groups usually did disperse, but sometimes they returned after the police had gone or others gathered later in the same area. In the past week, when warmer spring weather arrived, they issued only seven fines in the entire country. Almost everyone got off with a warning, while the healthcare authorities kept telling them that they risked losing the progress that the country had made in controlling with pandemic in the past month.
But now the cops have lost their patience. They say people have had time to learn the rules and now they will issue fines more readily. Saturday evening they issued fines to ten people who were playing a game on the beach. Except for a couple who escaped, each of them was fined DKK 2,500 (DK) (about $350), as the police were quick to tweet soon afterward. Sunday morning they issued the first fines (DK) to people loitering at Islands Brygge, the popular waterfront area in Copenhagen where a complete ban went into effect the evening before. One victim was a woman who was sitting on a bench (DK) by a playground with her seven-year-old daughter and her daughter’s friend.
$350 for sitting with two seven-year-olds
In an interview afterward, the woman said she had been shocked that the police gave her a fine without a waning. There was no one else in the playground and no sign at the entrance saying that they couldn’t be there. She lived in the neighborhood and had been concerned herself about the large crowds gathering there. She had been so surprised that she hadn’t even asked the police the amount. “Oh no, no, no!” she said, when the reporter told her. When the police were asked whether the fine wasn’t excessive for a woman and two small children, a representative said that it might seem unfair to an individual, but there were signs all over the Islands Brygge neighborhood and the situation should be seen from a wider perspective.
Sunday evening 11 young men and boys (DK) aged 16 to 21 who were gathered near the harbor in Odense, Denmark’s third largest city, were also issued fines. The police sent a tweet soon afterward as if they were eager to publicize the fact that they were no longer issuing warnings and allowing exceptions. The young people knew they weren’t supposed to be standing together, said the police shift captain, because they dispersed as soon as they saw us. At a club in the Northwest district (DK) in Copenhagen, 34 people were fined for gathering without any creditable purpose. The prohibition against groups applies to both public and private locations, said the police. Fines were issued to all 34 individuals, bringing the total amount to DKK 85,000 (more than $12,000). If some of them want to appeal, said the police, it will be up to the courts to decide their fate.
Collateral damage
The crackdown is bad news for Bryggens Spisehus (DK), a popular café at Islands Brygge. Adem Asci, the proprietor, says that before the ban on the area he had started to reestablish his takeout business. Customers generally kept a distance from one another when they stood in line and took their food to the nearby benches, he said. That is, until Thursday and Friday, when large crowds started congregating there. Now Islands Brygge is empty. Asci says that if the police had acted more resolutely earlier, it might not have been necessary to issue a total ban on the neighborhood.
The warnings didn’t work. In a press conference yesterday, Copenhagen’s Police Chief Anne Tønnes said the police were issuing a ban on gatherings in the waterfront lawns (DK) in the Islands Brygge neighborhood in Copenhagen. She reported that around 200 young people partied in the area the night before in an “inappropriate” manner despite clear warnings not to do so. Now they will be given fines of DKK 2,500 (about $350) immediately and will be subject to higher penalties for repeated offenses. The ban extends until May 1. It does not prohibit people from walking through the area. This is the second case in which the police have issued a ban on gatherings in a particular area. The other applies to a shopping center on the small island of Romø.
A loud sitting ovation
People are finding ways of returning to normal activities again under new conditions. Musicians and other performers have been sidelined by the ban on large gatherings. Friday evening the singer Mads Langer held a concert at a drive-in movie theater (DK) outside Aarhus. The concert was arranged at short notice, with tickets for 500 cars sold out in a week. The sound was transmitted to cars on an FM radio frequency, and the attendees seemed to enjoy the music and the new experience. They honked their horns to applaud, ran their windshield wipers, and rocked the cars. The event took place at what they call P-scene (DK) at Tangkrogen by Aarhus Bay, and several other performances are scheduled in the coming weeks.
Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup says that it is a healthy sign that people are finding creative ways to hold cultural events. They are using drive-in theaters for experiences that otherwise wouldn’t be possible under the lockdown – concerts, church services, film and soccer transmissions. Nevertheless, the Justice Ministry wants to monitor such events so see that they take place under proper conditions. It has therefore announced that event arrangers must obtain advance permission (DK) from the police. The requirement extends through the summer.
Necessity is the mother
The Skyland Beach music festival (DK), which had been scheduled for two weeks in July, was canceled because of the lockdown. Three siblings whose parents have run camping grounds at Skyland and a friend are now working on a plan B that they hope the authorities will approve. They want to hold the event at the camping grounds with strict hygienic rules and facilities.
Camping grounds have been given permission to open if they maintain a distance between guests. The large camping grounds at Skyland can be divided up into areas with 500 people each, and the Pedersen siblings hope gatherings of that size will be allowed again by the time the festival will be held. They propose issuing armbands according to the area where participants are staying, and after the music stops in the evening, when the guests traditionally begin to mingle, they will be allowed to hug, kiss and so on only with those with the same color armband. That’s the proposal anyway. Security staff will be on hand to make sure that people follow the rules. If the Pedersens don’t get approval, they will resort to plan C, operating ordinary family camping grounds.
