The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has responded to the various new measures which were announced by Boris Johnson yesterday (22nd Sept) in a bid to stop the current spike in COVID-19 infections.
Current infection rates have risen exponentially and are similar now to what they were during the height of the national lockdown.
In a statement, Martin Hewitt, the Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council said:
“The rise in the spread of the virus should concern us all, and it should be everyone’s priority to drive these numbers down. The country is at a critical point, and personal choices will matter in the weeks and months to come.
“Individuals, businesses and households all have a responsibility to ensure the virus is suppressed, and police will play their part in supporting the public to navigate the measures in place for our safety.
“We continue to thank the vast majority of the public for sticking to the rules and following the guidance in place to limit the spread of the virus. A small minority, however, are still choosing to flout the rules, and are consciously making decisions which put lives at risk – they should expect to have enforcement action taken against them.
“Our approach of engaging with people and explaining the regulations in place will remain. The vast majority of situations are resolved following those two stages, with little need for further encouragement or enforcement action to be taken.
“Police will continue to work with their communities and only issue fines as a last resort, however the time for encouraging those who knowingly flout the rules with no sense of guilt about the risks they are presenting has passed.
“Chiefs will be stepping up patrols in high-risk areas and will proactively work with businesses, licensing authorities and local authorities to ensure the rules are being followed. Forces will also continue to respond to crime in the normal way, assessed against the greatest risk of harm.
“If members of the public are concerned that the law is being broken or they are experiencing anti-social behaviour, they can report this to the police, who will consider the most appropriate response and will target the most problematic behaviour. Reports should be made through online reporting wherever possible, and 999 should only be used in an emergency.”
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories & videos which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services & NHS by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' back in 2018 was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services & NHS which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of you, our readers.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
