Police are “retreating” from lockdown enforcement and will now only break up large gatherings.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) have told ministers that most lockdown issues are now a “personal and moral responsibility” rather than a policing issue, The Times has learnt.
Kathryn Holloway, the Conservative Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner and APCC spokeswoman for civil contingencies, wrote to fellow commissioners on Tuesday and said the government had accepted that police had “retreated” to engaging, explaining and encouraging rather than enforcing the lockdown.
She added that officers would still try to prevent mass gatherings and that she and Martin Hewitt, chairman of the NPCC, had told the government they should not be responsible for enforcing guidelines.
