However, they are not immune to the negative impacts facing many businesses and organisations.

The department has made it clear that responding to this crisis is its "number one priority", and rightly so.

Keeping the community safe is exactly what police do - it is their duty. But policing, not unlike the role of nurses, doctors and other emergency workers, is a hands-on job.

And crime prevention, investigations and other day-to-day duties do not stop just because there is a pandemic.

In fact, there are fears crimes like theft and domestic violence will increase as factors such as unemployment and financial disadvantage become more prevalent throughout society.

Police will be on the frontline, as they always are, working relentlessly to enforce quarantine. But while this is an important task, it requires mass resourcing.

This is why it is vital for the community to take responsibility.

We already know that if we don't stay at home, and take all the precautions, that we are risking the lives of people we know and love - the vulnerable, the elderly.

But we are also risking the lives of the emergency workers who are being called on to face this crisis head on.

The police who are now forced to knock on doors of potentially infected people to make sure they are following the rules.

The police who have to be the ones to threaten people with fines, when the majority of the community is struggling financially at the moment.

The police who won't be able to take leave, who are already exhausted and who, just like every other Tasmanian, want to protect themselves and their family from this virus. This should not be an us versus them scenario.

As Tasmania Police Commissioner Darren Hine said, arresting people for not isolating should be a "last resort".

Instead, we should be working together as a community, as a country, to fight against this virus.

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