British police have handed out nearly 70,000 fines in England and Wales for breaches of
CCP virus restrictions since the pandemic began, new figures show.
Statistics released by the
National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on Thursday show that police in England and Wales issued a total of 68,952 fixed penalty notices for lockdown breaches up to Feb. 14.
The total number of fines issued in England is now 63,201, while the number for Wales stands at 5,751.
Also on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police, which serves the Greater London area, said it has issued
over 10,000 fines for COVID-19 breaches since the start of the pandemic, which was caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.
NPCC Chairman Martin Hewitt said that “it is frustrating that we still have a small number of completely defiant and irresponsible people who have no regard for the safety of themselves or others.”
“Our extra dedicated patrols across the country will continue to support those of us making significant sacrifices in following the rules by taking enforcement action against those who are not.”
Hewitt added that there are still “people threatening to infect officers with the virus and coughing or spitting on them.”
“This is disgusting and anyone who does this can expect to be arrested and prosecuted,” he warned.
According to a
survey published last month, nearly one in three police officers in England and Wales had been threatened with deliberate infection by someone who is believed to carry the CCP virus.
The Police Federation of England and Wales, which conducted the survey, said, “the weaponising of the COVID-19 virus against police officers was revealed to be an emerging threat to health and welfare.”
The UK has been under varying levels of CCP virus restrictions since the pandemic began last spring.
Since the ongoing national lockdown began in early January, police forces have said they are taking a
stricter approach to enforcing the rules.
Even police officers have sometimes found themselves on the wrong side of the law. The Metropolitan Police said on Jan. 20 that nine of its officers had been
fined after they were caught dining in a local café.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday set out his “
roadmap” out of the lockdown, which includes four stages with five weeks in between.
On Thursday, the chief medical officers of all four nations of the United Kingdom agreed to
lower the virus alert level from level five to level four.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the news, but urged the public to continue to “stay at home” as “it’s vital we continue to suppress this virus as we roll-out the vaccine.”
Mary Clark contributed to this report.
