Police to enforce wearing of face coverings in shops
Police officers in England are to be tasked with enforcing the wearing of masks in shops and supermarkets once they become mandatory on July 24, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has confirmed.
The move will bring England into line with Scotland, where face coverings were made mandatory in shops on July 10.
There the regulations apply to any indoor establishment that offers goods or services for sale or hire. Face coverings need not be worn in hospitality premises such as cafes, coffee shops, restaurants or pubs. Money services businesses such as banks and building societies are also exempt.
The Government has been encouraging people to wear face coverings in confined spaces such as shops since early May. There were made compulsory on all public transport services in England in mid-June.
The new regulations for shops in England fall under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. Failure to comply will lead to a fine of £100 – reduced to £50 if it is paid within 14 days.
Staff working in shops are to be asked to encourage compliance with the new regulations, but enforcement will be left to the police.
Levels of compliance are expected to be high – in Scotland no one has yet been fined for failing to wear a mask in a shop or on public transport. In London officers from Britsh Transport Police have stopped more than 18,500 from travelling becuase they were not wearing face coverings but only 59 fines had to be issued.
Responding to the announcement a spokesperson for the NPCC said: “Once we have full details of the new legislation we will issue police officers with guidance on their role in enforcement.”
However, Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh said the idea that police could enforce the new regulations was “absolutely absurd”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Shopkeepers need to step up to the plate and take some responsibility. They can quite easily put signs up on their doors ‘No mask on, no entry, this is private property’.
“That’s the first point we need to get across because this cannot all be laid on the shoulders of the police yet again.
“The second point is it will be nigh-on impossible for enforcement because you won’t have a police officer on every shop door because there isn’t enough of us.
“If a shopkeeper calls the police because someone hasn’t got a mask on, they haven’t got the power to detain them so that person can just walk away.
“We’ll be driving around and around London looking for people who aren’t wearing masks. Would be absolutely absurd.”
Police officers are likely to be exempt from the shop regulations while on duty, but last week the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) urged officers to wear face coverings at all times.
PFEW national vice-chair Che Donald spoke out after 600,000 of the masks were distributed to forces, along with guidance that officers should be wearing them whenever possible, to protect colleagues and set an example to the public.
Mr Donald said: “Evidence suggests that wearing a face covering does not protect the wearer, but if you’re infected without knowing it, or asymptomatic, this can help prevent the spread of the virus if you cough in proximity to colleagues. The danger is, as the pubs reopen and the shops, a complacency can creep in that the virus has gone away – it hasn’t. It’s important that all of us continue to follow the guidance.”
He also urged officers to continue to social distance where possible, wash hands and wipe down keyboards before and after use to prevent transmission of disease.
