Police turned back several people trying to visit friends and access holiday homes outside Auckland after midday on Wednesday, but the Commissioner says there have been few issues so far and no arrests have been made.
Cmmr Andrew Coster announced on Wednesday nine checkpoints would be set up around Auckland's boundary following the super city's move to COVID-19 alert level 3 at midday.
The alert level 3 announcement on Tuesday night came after renewed community transmission of COVID-19 in the city. The rest of the country moved to alert level 2.
Coster said the Auckland checkpoints have, so far, resulted in no arrests being made.
"We have turned back a number of vehicles but they've understood [the rules] once we've had a conversation with them," Coster told The AM Show on Thursday. "We had some people trying to visit friends just over the border. We've had some people trying to go to their holiday homes."
He said, however, the majority of those crossing checkpoints were doing so for legitimate reasons.
"We understand that it takes a while for a new mode to lock back in and people know what we need to do - I think we're settling into it," he said.
Coster said police "could arrest" for unlawful roadblock breaches and urged people to be calm.
He said "we've beaten this thing before and we can do it again" should people do the right thing.
"If there's a gathering greater than the permitted size then, yes, we may enter and deal with the situation - using powers of entry is the last resort - normally we can go and knock at the front door and have a conversation and we sort it out, so I believe that power was used only once or twice in the previous lockdown."
Under alert level 3, people are told to stay in their household bubbles. Gatherings of up are only permitted for wedding services, funerals, and tangihanga.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield will hold a news briefing at 1pm to provide the latest COVID-19 update.
