125 charges laid by police-led COVID-19 response team this spring

The final tally is in: a total of 125 charges were laid by a Waterloo Regional Police Services-led COVID-19 enforcement teambetween April 25 and June 13 of this year.

The COVID-19 integrated response team was formed in response to an uptick in "civil disobedience" over the winter and early spring, Chief Bryan Larkin said last month.

In total, the team attended 10 demonstrations and handled a total of 465 occurrences, according to a police services board report. None of those incidents involved violence or injury, the report said.

It cost $402,000 including $13,000 worth of overtime fees to operate the team. Those costs were included in the existing police budget and there won't be any further budget impact this year, Larkin said Wednesday at a police services board meeting.

Although the team has wrapped up, officers will still respond to ongoing violations as needed, Supt. Tom Berczisaid at Wednesday's meeting.