Our correspondent joined a tour of Migdal Haemek station police, who, like the rest of the police, try to adapt to the Ministry of Health's enforcement • "People are not yet conceived, but it will come"

An unusual sign greeted us at the entrance to the Migdal Haemek police station. "Dear visitor / policeman, please do not touch the station log counter for the safety of the public and the police."

An inspector appeals to people at Marom Neve Ramat Gan Park // Moshe Ben Simhon

Placing the sign in the centerpiece of the station as if it symbolically hinted at what we learned later in our visit to the place, and throughout the Northern Police District: The Corona effect causes changes in the patterns of events the police have been dealing with in recent days.

Since the public is already under partial lockdown and most of his time at home with his children, police have recorded a decline in property and road traffic offenses and an increase in domestic violence offenses.

"Enforcement of the epidemic is at the top of our minds right now," explained Superintendent Eyal Kehati, commander of Migdal Ha'Emek police station, "I still can't quantify it by percentage, but we are currently seeing a drop in home and business burglaries and car thefts. We are also seeing fewer calls for call center 100 and an increase in calls for call center 110, which will provide a vocal answer to public questions. This is because the public feels that there is a lack of clarity about the desired behavior, and he wants answers to questions to try to reduce uncertainty. "

CSB and Effi Othman, head of tour patrol at Migdal Haemek station, to which we joined the activities of the local Corona patrol, testify to "an increase in domestic violence offenses. Suddenly the husband and wife sit at home all day with the children who do not go to school. It causes direct and unconventional friction that sometimes also comes to violence. "

"Consumer cough"

Major Othman has been working with the police for 24 years, but has never encountered any activity that he is required to fill with his police officers these days. We joined him and the patrol officer Major General Bishara was banned from the Corona Patrol in Migdal Haemek and its surroundings. At times when they are not required to enforce the isolation violations, the Corona Patrol's main activity scene is the shopping centers and places that, as a matter of course, are supposed to be crowded. Mission: Supervise the Ministry of Health's guidelines for banning congregation and maintaining a two-meter distance between one consumer and another. Gloves, wipes, alcohol, masks and protective suits are added to the routine firearms in case they need to handle insulators.

First stop: Peretz Center shopping center in town. The consumer movement is sparse and the few who arrive usually wear masks and gloves. On a visit to the Shufersal branch, we found a worker wearing an orange glowing vest, who was given another position last week: a two-meter inspector. To the patrol officers, she explains that the orders and guidelines are being met seriously, and that in her role she is now required to keep consumers less than two meters apart.

An employee of the branch went on to say how the day before, one consumer coughed and panicked among the other shoppers, and how they had to deal with her removal from the branch, maintaining a balance between sensitivity and determination.

"People are a little disrespectful"

Another stop: Super-Pharm branch, where we did not find a single buyer without a face mask and gloves. The arrival of the patrol officers raises a little panic, but Ottman rushes to calm down and turns to the branch manager. "Nothing happened, I am here to maintain public order and to monitor and control the Ministry of Health's guidelines. People are a little disrespectful and there are unnecessary crowds and this can be prevented."

The branch manager explains that the task of public information to buyers at any given moment is almost impossible: "Take them, take them. What am I supposed to do?"

Patrol officers respond with empathy to the difficulty they face themselves. "When you wear civilian clothes, it's a little less stressful for the public than a cop who comes to disperse people inside the business," the cops explain. "Let's try to help each other and save each other's lives, okay? It's not a kids game. It's a must, not a recommendation. I hold an order, we enforce it and it will have significant consequences if we don't do it. "

Major General Patrol officer Bashara Nasser has trouble summarizing the days he would not have been expected to deal with a week earlier.

"The first week of enforcement was not easy. We still do not enforce the fines, but it will come. We are currently conducting home visits to isolators to see that they have not breached the isolation and shopping centers and places that are inherently homely," Nasser concludes. "There are home isolators who do not answer the Ministry of Health's phone, so we get their updated lists, come to homes and check that they are actually in homes in isolation and who is with them," he concluded.