It is often said that the public are the eyes and ears of the police in the local community.
That is perhaps the case more so than ever at the moment, as we face the coronavirus pandemic together.
Leicestershire Police have revealed that they have received more than 20,000 reports of Covid-19 rule breaches since the first lockdown in March last year.
That is an average of about 500 reports a week.
As of the end of last week the force’s officers had issued 939 Covid-19 breach fixed penalty fines since the start of the pandemic with 25 of them at the maximum level of £10,000.
The force’s assistant chief constable Kerry Smith has this week said her officers will issue with fines, but only as a last resort.
“We want to encourage people to stay home as much as possible and to understand the reasons they are allowed to leave home,” she said.
“We have to encourage people not to look for loopholes.
“Everyone has a personal responsibility to understand what the rules are now and what they shouldn’t do.”
Exasperated police listed the 11 worst examples of breaches of Covid-19 restrictions they punished within 72 of ACC Smith urging people to abide by the lockdown rules.
So, what should you do if you think you see someone breaking the coronavirus rules?
Should you bother the police? Are they too busy to take your report?
We put some questions to Leicestershire Police about reporting possible breaches to them. Their answers are below:
What should people do if they think they see a breach of Covid-19 rules?
“We want to stress to the public that it is really important to let us know about Covid-19 breaches. We are working to keep people safe and those who are choosing to ignore the rules and guidelines are putting themselves and others at risk from this terrible disease.”
Should people report an alleged breach taking place immediately when they see it?
“Yes we would ask that you report it immediately so that, if the resources are available, we are able to get officers there to disperse people and reduce the risk to others.”
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Do you welcome such reports?
“We do welcome such reports. We have had over twenty thousand reports of Covid-19 related incidents since the beginning of the pandemic.
“We must acknowledge that the majority of people are following the rules and guidelines but a small few are choosing to ignore them and are likely to face a fine as a result.
“We must all work together to tackle this pandemic and part of that is letting us know when people are putting others at risk by not following the government’s rules and guidelines.
“We work with partners to ensure we can redirect to the correct agency if appropriate such as trading standards
What will the force’s approach to possible breaches be?
“We continue with the same strategy throughout this pandemic.
“We will engage with people, explain to them why they are in breach, encourage them to comply or disperse and if need be we will issue a fixed penalty notice.”
How do they report a possible breach ?
“They can report it on line or call 101 – they cannot report anonymously via our website but if they wish to remain anonymous they must contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Alternatively, people can report via the Leicestershire Police website.
