Policing the pandemic: lessons from lockdown

Two days before placing the country into lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson made it clear his decisions were being informed by events overseas. “The numbers are very stark, and they are accelerating,” he said, referring to the escalating death toll and rising number of infections linked to the coronavirus. “We are only a matter of weeks – two or three – behind Italy,” he said.

Much of the focus on what is happening in other countries battling Covid-19 is around how their health services are coping and the severity of measures being imposed to keep the public safe. The nature and effectiveness of the response of police forces in those countries can sometimes be overlooked.

While still awaiting the passing of new powers that will enable them to properly enforce the new social distancing and stay-at-home measures, with fines starting at £60 (reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days), the police have been asking for the public to comply and, in many cases, indicating that enforcement will be the very last resort.

Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said: “My officers are talking to people, engaging with people, they’re explaining the new guidance and the new rules. The vast majority of people are very positive and want to comply with the new guidance. We all have our role to play in keeping our country safe, keeping everybody safe.”

A key provision of the Coronavirus Bill will enable “police and immigration officers to detain a person, for a limited period, who is, or may be, infectious and to take them to a suitable place to enable screening and assessment”.

Dame Cressida made has expressed hope this will not need to be used: “We will only use enforcement if we absolutely have to, but we won’t hesitate if there are people who are deliberately breaching the law. But I think the vast majority of people will want to comply with the law to keep their society safe.”

One of the loudest voices to question this approach is that of former defence secretary Michael Portillo. “It’s extraordinary how in our globalised world we don’t seem to be able to look even to countries as close as France and Spain and Italy and really to absorb what is happening there and what they are doing,” he told Police Professional.
“From the Government to the police forces to the public, what is happening next door to us doesn’t seem to have impact. We don’t seem to understand that this is our near future.”

In stark contrast to Dame Cressida, Police Scotland Chief Constable Ian Livingstone said his officers would not hesitate to use their new powers if people continued to defy the laws.

“The public needs to be pushed more firmly,” said Mr Portillo. “I’m disappointed by the level of the fines. If you’re equating doing something which is quite dangerous – associating in large numbers in a public place – with overstaying a parking meter, that gives entirely the wrong message.”

“The police here need to mirror what has been happening abroad, where forces have been very clear that they will enforce the legislation. That has played an important part in creating the right environment as it is very clear to the public what is required of them.”

Pockets of behaviour

Although many forces are reporting good levels of compliance, there are still pockets of behaviour that disregard the health of others. Less than a day after the lockdown was announced, police officers in Foleshill, Coventry, encountered a group of people who were blatantly flouting the Government measures.

Officers were on regular patrol when they “smelt food”, West Midlands police said in a statement. “They were shocked to find a group of around 20 people, including a toddler and people estimated to be in their sixties, freely mingling and standing shoulder-to-shoulder around a buffet.

“Despite the warning the group refused [to disperse] and began protesting they should be allowed to continue their barbecue. In the end, our officers felt they needed to end the gathering by tipping over the barbecue and insisting the group dispersed to their homes.”

Last week a resident on the Isle of Man was arrested for refusing to adhere to rules requiring individuals to self-isolate. A spokesperson for the Isle of Man Constabulary confirmed that the 26-year-old male, who has not been identified, was taken into police custody after failing to adhere to new legislation introduced in the island’s response to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The man is understood to be the first person held in the British Isles for breaching quarantine rules.

Police forces nationwide have spent weeks planning for how they would cope in a scenario where up to 30 per cent, and in some cases 40 per cent, of officers would be absent due to sickness or self-isolation at any one time as Covid-19 spreads. However, these assumptions did not include enforcing a lockdown and forces are now looking to find the best way forward.

Full impact

If the UK is two weeks behind Italy in experiencing the full impact of Covid-19, as is widely suggested, then the police will inevitably find themselves under increasing pressure.

Italy has imposed strict measures to try to slow down the rising number of cases, currently in excess of 65,000 with more than 6,000 deaths – more than anywhere else in the world.

In the past three weeks, Italian police have stopped and checked 700,000 citizens, 43,000 of whom were found to have violated the decree, which also ordered the closing of shops, bars, restaurants, gyms and swimming pools.

While millions of Italians have been staying at home since March 9, when Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed a national quarantine, a minority have violated the rules – almost identical to those imposed in the UK – that individuals should venture out only to shop for food, for health-related reasons or to go to work if their job is deemed essential and cannot be performed from home.

One of the most serious cases occurred in Sciacca, Sicily, when a man who had tested positive for Covid-19 was discovered by officers out shopping, despite the strict order to self-isolate at home. The man faces charges of “aiding the epidemic” and could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

Unlike the UK, funerals are also banned under the decree and at least two priests have been charged with attempting to conduct burial ceremonies during the lockdown. There have also been cases of men being arrested in the early hours of the morning attempt to solicit sex workers.

The Italian government has responded by dramatically increasing the fines for those who fail to comply with its containment measures. Having initially set fines at a maximum of 206 euro, these have now been increased to a minimum of 400 euro and a new maximum of 3,000 euro.

The initial government order placed Italy into lockdown until April 3, but with hundreds of deaths still being reported each day, this is likely to be extended.

An added difficulty during the lockdown is the growing number of officers falling victim to the virus themselves. In the UK, the number of officers and police staff who are absent from work is climbing fast and expected to continue to grow as the virus spreads. This has led to additional concerns over levels of demand as officers step in to cover gaps in mental health support services and delays in ambulances arriving.

Social pressure

Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, has said that enforcing the lockdown would be impossible if it was solely down to stretched officers and that community and social pressure was key.

“How are you going to disprove someone is going to Sainsbury’s or Morrisons for the first time that day? They can’t really enforce it,” he said. “The police in this country don’t have that presence on the ground. There is no surge capacity. Police can’t achieve a degree of presence in every community.”

Another issue for officers is that every interaction with a member of the public places them at risk of infection. Regulations around items such as spit hoods – which can be deployed only after a suspect has spat at an officer – add to the concerns.

In other countries where lockdowns are already in place, police officers are minimising contact with the public, which has resulted in a reduced number of arrests.

One US police department, for example, has purchased two drones, doubling the size of its small fleet, and plans to equip them up with speakers and night vision cameras.

“We have not traditionally mounted speakers to our drones, but if we need to cover a large area to get an announcement out, or if there were a crowd somewhere that we needed to disperse, we could do it without getting police officers involved,” said Captain Vern Sallee of the Chula Vista Police Department in California.

Northamtonshire Chief Constable Nick Adderley is already looking to expand the drone capacity of his force in a similar way.

Domestic violence

In Bellevue, Washington State, police dispatchers are screening callers to see if they have symptoms or may have been exposed to the virus. If the answer is yes, officers meet them outside and wear protective clothing, including gowns and masks, although supplies of these are fast running out.

Other concerns in the UK include an increase in hate crimes, mostly directed against those of Chinese descent – several cases of which have already been reported. Incidents of domestic violence are also likely to increase under the strain of home confinement and concerns over finance.

Many within policing have highlighted the practical difficulties of the lockdown measures and believe that only community pressure, such as that which made drink-driving socially unacceptable, can truly change people’s behaviour.

John Apter, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers would not be heavy-handed and would rely on persuasion and social pressure.

“If everything is put in the police’s lap, it will put intolerable pressure on us,” he said. “We police by consent. Police officers are not going to be militaristic in their approach. The practicalities of policing of it are going to be incredibly difficult. We still have emergency calls to attend and we don’t have enough officers.”

Mr Apter warned the public must listen or stricter restrictions would have to follow: “If this is not adhered to or does not work, I can foresee the next step will be a more robust lockdown. There will be roadblocks and stop-checks on the street. None of us want to see that, we police by consent. The future of this is in the hands of the public.”