Police says no road blocks conducted to fine individuals who defy elevated safe distancing measures

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) have rejected claims which stated that they have fined people at road blocks for not complying with the elevated safe distancing measures.
The Police said this in a Facebook post on Monday (13 April) after messages asserting the claims had been making rounds on text messaging platforms.
“There are messages circulating via text messaging services making false claims that members of the public had been stopped at police road blocks and fined for not complying with the elevated safe distancing measures,” SPF noted.
It added, “This is not true. The Police have not conducted road blocks specifically to enforce the elevated safe distancing measures, and no passengers have been fined at road blocks for not complying with these measures.”
On top of the text messages that SPF highlighted in its statement, TODAY also reported that it had viewed the messages circulating on platforms like WhatsApp making the same false claims.
In one of the messages on WhatsApp, an individual pointed out that a friend’s son had been fined S$300 for dropping off a friend home.
“He was stopped during a roadblock and they (the police) checked both their Identity Cards (ICs) which apparently didn’t match within the same household,” the message read.
Although SPF clarified that they did not fine people at road blocks, but they did note that they may take enforcement on those that disobey the safe distancing measures if they spot them.
The Police added that the road blocks that they have been carrying out are to detect other offences like driving under the influence of alcohol or to look for wanted individuals.
“The Police conduct road blocks to detect offences such as for drink-driving, and other law enforcement purposes, such as to detect wanted persons,” SPF explained.
It added, “Nevertheless, if the Police come across motorists and passengers flouting the elevated safe distancing measures when conducting such road blocks, the Police may take enforcement action.”
The Police also added that the public should not “spread unsubstantiated information which may cause public alarm.”