Victorian Police are preparing to launch high powered surveillance drones to ensure civilians are complying with the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The drones will be used to monitor beaches and parks, patrol the border, locate individuals not wearing a mask, and notify authorities if a vehicle has travelled too far from the owner’s residence.
Police are preparing to launch their aerial arsenal as part of a crackdown on COVID rule breakers. High powered drones will be used to find people not wearing masks, and cars too far from home. https://t.co/5zYfOfohG3 @tdolling #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/Yy84UBTH0V
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) August 17, 2020
The new “aerial arsenal” can be flown up to a distance of 7km and are equipped with infrared cameras with the ability to read vehicle number plates from a distance of 500 meters.
Current restrictions prohibit Melburnians from venturing further than 5km from their homes between the hours of 5am and 8pm, except in cases of work and medical care. Citizens are limited to one hour of exercise per day, and only one person from each household can go shopping.
Stage 4 restrictions are now in place for Melbourne.
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) August 10, 2020
Exercise is limited to once a day for 1 hour.
Shopping is limited to 1 person once a day.
And when doing either, you must stay within 5kms of your home.
You must also stay home between 8pm and 5am. pic.twitter.com/AB1pmyoV7u
Those in breach of the curfew can be fined almost $5,000, with repeat offenders facing a fine of up to $20,000. Anyone found not to be wearing a mask can also be fined $200.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, otherwise known as Dictator Dan, this week extended the Victorian State of Emergency to September 13, for the maximum 6-month period of time that a state of emergency can be extended.
According to Sky News, however, the Premier is now working with the state’s solicitor-general to introduce new legislation and amendments to allow authorities to extend the state of emergency indefinitely.
“This should be the lead story across the country,” said Avi Yemini of TR News. “The mainstream media fail us again.”
#BREAKING: Dan Andrews is working with the solicitor-general to figure out how they can REMOVE the one protection citizens have from a government going rogue.
— Avi Yemini
This should be the lead story across the country.
The MSM fail us again.
WATCH the full vidhttps://t.co/PlzCHgkxAo pic.twitter.com/SJwCUEYssr
(@OzraeliAvi) August 17, 2020
US political commentator Dan Bongino weighed in on the currents state of Victoria, accusing the government of turning Melbourne into a “police state using the coronavirus as a backdrop.”
“For all my Australian listeners, I feel really bad for you if you live in Melbourne right now,” Bongino said. “You are watching your civil liberties go down the tubes right now, being flushed down the toilet.”
Bongino went on to say Melburnians have fewer freedoms than those who lived under the Soviet Union.
