Federation welcomes guidance on COVID-19 response

6 April 2020

New guidance to help officers deal with the extra powers introduced by the Coronavirus Act 2020 have been welcomed by Hertfordshire Police Federation secretary Al Wollaston.

The College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council have published a set of measures to help forces across England.  

“During an unprecedented time of nationwide lockdown, this new guidance is very important for a number of reasons,” says Al.

“Because of the speed at which the travel and movement restrictions were introduced by the Government, it has led to different interpretations at times as forces try to implement them. Officers have been trying to do the right thing in parks and public spaces but there have been inevitable teething problems in some areas.

“The new guidelines give some much-needed clarity and will enable more consistency from force to force. While everybody welcomes that, I must strongly emphasise that support for our members carrying out their duties must also include the right levels of PPE while they do so.

“Where officers are being asked to use ‘reasonable force where necessary’ to police a lockdown, they simply must be able to do so without additional risks to their own personal health and wellbeing.”

The details of the new guidelines are as follows: 

• Use of powers under this legislation will be public health led. The powers are to support public health officers in the testing and treatment of individuals where needed, to avoid further transmission of the COVID-19 virus
• Partnership arrangements with Public Health England and collaborative decision-making are key to enforcing these provisions
• A public health officer can direct or remove a person to a place suitable for screening and assessment. They can ask a constable to support this process if necessary. This should occur only in the most exceptional circumstances
• A constable must seek the advice of a public health official in judging whether they have reasonable grounds to suspect a person is potentially infectious unless this is impracticable. If an officer has reasonable grounds, they can remove a person to a place suitable for screening and assessment or keep the person at that place until a public health officer can assess them. Details of what constitutes reasonable grounds can be found in the full Coronavirus Act brief
• Police are able to use reasonable force to enforce these powers where necessary, however, in line with the Health Protection regulations guidance published last week to assist officers with policing the lockdown
• The “Four Es” approach should be taken - Engage, Explain, Encourage the public and only Enforce as a last resort.