West Midlands Deputy Police and Criminal Police Officer Waheed Saleem has welcomed new police powers that allow organizers of illegal gatherings to be fined up to £ 10,000.
Fines of up to £ 10,000 for those organizing illegal raves in England will go into effect before Bank Holiday if authorities take action against illegal gatherings.
Police have been forced to shut down more than 70 illegal raves and house parties in the area – despite urgent warnings, Birmingham is one step away from “lockdown-like restrictions”.
Officials have responded to an increase in unlicensed music events in warm weather and a relaxation of lockdown restrictions in recent weeks.
Tightened measures against coronavirus violations at large gatherings will come into effect on the Friday before the August bank holiday weekend.
Boris Johnson said new fines should be introduced for rave hosts when he announced further easing of the lockdown in England last week.
Individuals facilitating or organizing illegal raves, unlicensed music events or other unlawful gatherings of 30 or more people may be fined £ 10,000.
Police broke up a number of large gatherings in the Midlands on Saturday, August 22nd
(Image: WMP)
Participants can still be fined £ 100, while for those who have already been fined, the amount is double for each offense, up to a maximum of £ 3,200.
He told BBC Breakfast that he accompanied officials who broke up illegal gatherings over the weekend, including house gatherings, raves, guards and weddings.
He said, “I think people think the virus is not out there, or it won’t affect them, and they can continue to enjoy themselves in these gatherings, which is actually not the case because these gatherings are not just breeding grounds for the virus but also breeding grounds for crime. “
“I welcome the increase in fines because I’ve been asking for it over the past few weeks because the number of these events in our patch has grown steadily.
“Although we could have dealt with these fines much sooner, I think these fines will put off the people who gather and organize these illegal gatherings.
“We always try to get people involved, encouraged and explained to them before we go to enforcement and so the majority of the public is listening, but there is a minority who don’t and a lot of people have been very upset too about our coming to them. ” break up these street festivals. “
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Birmingham police said they attended more than 70 unlicensed street and house parties on Saturday night while Huddersfield police broke up an illegal rave with around 300 people.
The Metropolitan Police received information on more than 200 events across London in a single weekend and responded to more than 1,000 illegal incidents in the capital since the end of June.
Elsewhere, the West Midlands Police closed 125 parties and raves in one weekend – including one of up to 600 people.