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.