Over 880 Covid Fines Issued In A Month
Written by HFM News on 8th February 2021
Leicestershire Police issued more fines last month to those flouting Covid-19 restrictions than during the whole of last year.
889 fixed penalty notices were given out, including to a group of between 8 and 10 people who gathered at a skate park in Market Harborough, who had ignored sings it was closed.
It compares with 850 fines issued during all periods of restrictions last year and follows increased enforcement of the rules.
Assistant Chief Constable Kerry Smith said: “We continue to say thank you to all of the public who are complying with the rules and understand why they are in place. This is allowing us to continue to do other work tackling crime and getting some really good results. The bottom line is that we have had to step up our enforcement as the message was not getting through to the small minority who are continuing to ignore the rules.
“We also have to thank the public for helping us by reporting Covid breaches to us. In the last month we received 2,480 calls relating to the pandemic. This is double the amount of calls we were receiving before this current lockdown. We need the public’s information to guide us and we have been clear as to what the consequences are.
“We are continuing to engage with the public but we are being more proactive in giving out the tickets where possible.
“We continue to share the public’s frustration that the small minority are still taking terrible risks.”
From March 23, 2020, to February 2, this year, the Leicestershire force has given out a total of 1,739 fines, and have received a total of 21,508 reports of Covid incidents.
