At least five chief constables have expressed their need for more lockdown powers to stop people ignoring social distancing rules over the Easter weekend.
Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, Julia Mulligan, says: “If people don’t stick with the instructions, then they [the Government] may well have to consider additional measures.”
She went on to say: “There is a lot of preparation to get the message out to people not to visit beauty spots, and we have had complaints from farmers who are seeing 20 cars in their lanes and people going walking.”
Another police leader has conveyed their belief that it should be down to the public to prove that they are carrying out an essential journey, rather than the police having to validate their reasoning for stopping them.
They said: “We need to say you can’t drive. The burden needs to be on the individual, not on the state to prove reasonableness. If the test changes, a lot less people would think: ‘Rover does not need to be driven to the park today.’”
A spokesperson for No10 has refused to rule out the possibility of permitting police to use extended powers to enforce lockdown regulations.
He said: “We have always said if the scientific advice suggested that further steps are needed, we would be prepared to take them. When we asked the police to carry out enforcement of any rules, we give them discretion to decide on how to do that, that’s the nature of policing in the UK.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned last week that current restrictions would be tightened if people continued to ignore the lockdown rules.
This desire for more lockdown power comes as Greater Manchester Police revealed that they had to break up 660 parties last weekend that included 494 house parties – some of which featured bouncy castles and fireworks – and 166 street parties.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has declared this behaviour as unacceptable, saying: “They are putting everybody at risk. If you are going out and about you are putting at risk the most vulnerable members of your community, and you need to have a good hard look at yourself.”
The UK police force has recently been accused of abusing their powers to enforce COVID-19 lockdown with reports of police using drones to spy on people taking walks at nature hotspots and officers urging shops not to sell Easter eggs because they are not essential items.
Jonathan Sumption, a former UK Supreme Court Judge, said: “The tradition of policing in this country is that policemen are citizens in uniform, they are not members of a disciplined hierarchy operating just at the government’s command. This is what a police state looks like.”
People across the country are being urged to stay in over the Easter weekend and follow the government’s coronavirus rules as temperatures are forecast to reach up to 25 degrees.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said: “The UK is just beginning to see this strategy starting to work” and that people needed to “stick with it.”
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