Temporary Deputy Police Commissioner Claire Bell
During the pandemic, the force put in place a policy to speak to people before fines are imposed. As this continues, officials have now been ordered to move faster to enforcement – especially for repeat offenders and those organizing large gatherings.
Since the “Rule of Six” came into effect, the Force has issued 50 “exit instructions,” ordering people to move away from an area. On nine occasions, the people were dispersed by officials and six fines of £ 100 were imposed.
It came when the force announced that they were now receiving around 200 calls to their 101 number a day from people reporting rule violations.
Temporary Assistant Police Chief Claire Bell said: “We will continue to encourage people to comply before we take enforcement action.
“But what we’re saying with the new rules is that if we see people breaking the rules on purpose, we’re ready to take enforcement action faster to keep people safe.”
“Individuals should be aware that we will take enforcement action if they repeatedly break the rule of six.
“When there are large gatherings we will turn to the organizers, but we ask everyone who attends these gatherings to think about their personal responsibilities.
“This is an opportunity for us to contain the infection in our area. If we don’t act quickly, we will likely see lives being lost.”
The move will result in additional officers being deployed at times when large gatherings are more likely, with “targeted intervention work” in high risk areas such as bus stops.
There are currently four National Areas of Intervention in the West Midlands, with Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Solihull having additional restrictions prohibiting people from visiting other homes.
Temporary ACC Bell said the force is encouraging people to report violations, especially large gatherings.
She said resources were depleted due to crime across the region returning to pre-pandemic levels.
“We would ask the public to trust our judgment when dealing with reports,” she added.
In the past few days, officials came to Wolverhampton to review the licensed premises and found that the vast majority of the locations were compliant.
Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Waheed Saleem said “high profile patrols” have been stepped up to check that licensed premises and restaurants have closed at 10pm, as the new rules require.
“This is due to the fact that crime is back to pre-Covid levels, crimes like domestic violence has increased 35 percent, the murder rate has increased significantly, and violence has also increased, and we are dealing with a number cases of gang tension and violence, “he added.
Mr Saleem said the force had received a number of reports of major weddings over the past week.
“I want to remind people that we have the power to punish people who organize illegal gatherings – including large weddings – up to £ 10,000,” he said.
“I’m sure the people who organize these weddings who would rather spend £ 10,000 on their honeymoon on other things than put money in the treasury, so I would urge people to share their plans for this weekend and those to come Weeks to reconsider and reduce the guest list size to 15 or postpone the wedding as these are potential places where the virus can spread very quickly. “