After Days of Mixed Signals on Coronavirus Lockdown, Govt Warns Police ‘Unafraid to Act’

Police officers sit in a car as they talk with two men who had been sunbathing in St James
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Oliver JJ Lane

A joint press conference given by the home secretary and a senior police chief has buttressed the government’s lockdown demands and contained threats of officers “unafraid” to impose both fines and even arrests.

The government update follows a perceived lack of clarity in recent days, with senior police officers making dire warnings of authoritarian crackdowns — only to rescind them hours later after public outcry — and warnings from the Home Secretary to officers to not be too heavy-handed. Now the home secretary herself — Conservative Priti Patel — seems to have had her own about-face, addressing the nation Saturday afternoon to warn that police would be “unafraid to act” against those breaking the lockdown.

Speaking to the nation in the latest of the now long series of daily coronavirus press conferences live from Downing Street — once taken by the Prime Minister but while he recovers from coronavirus in hospital, by a series of other ministers — Ms Patel said that while she was grateful to the “overwhelming majority” of the public not leaving their homes, but warned she had given the police “the police the powers to enforce the necessary measures we have put in place”.

The home secretary said: “my message to anyone still refusing to do the right thing is clear: if you don’t play your part, our selfless police, who are out there risking their own lives to save others, will be unafraid to act… If you don’t follow the guidance, you will be endangering the lives of your own friends, family, and loved ones.”

Also attending the conference was top police officer Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, who warned of arrests. He said that in extreme cases: “we would have to resort to enforcement which would be by a fine, or if there was some other activity there, an arrest.”

Both Hewitt and Patel made reference to the now-frequent incidences of police forces and individual officers appearing to significantly overreach in authority, which has both caused widespread public concern and garnered media attention. Hewitt explained away the alarming statements by some officers, and heavy-handed policing by others as “mistakes”, insisting that: “in those few cases where officers or police forces have made mistakes in interpreting the new regulations, they have quickly sought to correct them and preserve the necessary clarity.

“We will continue to be guided by principles of fairness, proportionality, and common sense.”

The home secretary chimed in, saying “one or two incidents” had come to the nation’s attention, but that they had been blown out of proportion. That remark follows by just hours others from Ms Patel, when she appeared to be delivering the opposite message to police and said they shouldn’t be too “heavy-handed”. London’s The Times reported the home secretary’s comments as a “slap down” to police grasping for more authoritarian powers.

Patel’s comments in turn followed the extraordinary remarks of Northamptonshire police boss Nick Adderley on Thursday morning. Speaking to press with a warning that were to go viral on social media, Adderley threatened shoppers that if they didn’t follow orders he’d be forced to post constables to supermarkets, before being forced to retract his statement just hours later, claiming he’d been misunderstood.

As Breitbart London reported, Adderley said: “we will not at this stage be starting to marshall supermarkets and checking the items in baskets and trolleys to see whether it is a legitimate or necessary item. But again, be under no illusion if people do not heed the warnings and the pleas that I am making today, we will start to do that. We have much more to do.”

Explaining his earlier comments had been misinterpreted, Chief Adderley took to Facebook live just hours later to apologise for his “clumsy” language. He clarified: “this morning there was a number of media reports… and I think there was as really short grabbed clip of one of the statements that I made that caused consternation on social media… I may have been clumsy in that language.”

He continued: “Northamptonshire police will not carry out basket or trolley searches… what I was trying to refer to was, were may get to a stage where the purposes of someone’s journey may be questioned by an officer. Not searching trolleys and baskets. Confusion has existed, please let me clarify we’re not in that business.”

Asked specifically about police chief Adderley’s comments, home secretary Patel said Thursday that what he’d said was “not appropriate” and not in line with the government’s guidance.

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