Dorset still sticking to COVID rules, says Chief Constable
If people are caught, they're warned of the rules and enforcement is only taken as a last resort
Most Dorset residents are continuing to stick to lockdown rules – according to Chief Constable James Vaughan.
But the senior policeman warns that his officers will clamp down on those who flout the rules and has asked residents to continue reporting serious breaches.
He said that in the last week alone more than 160 calls had been made to Dorset police about breaches with officers attending a high proportion of the cases. Since March Dorset officers have handed out 919 fines.
“The public are being vigilant and we welcome calls when there are flagrant breaches,” he said.
He said in almost every case people had been advised of the rules and enforcement action was only taken as a last resort.
During an online meeting, organised by the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Martyn Underhill, on Thursday evening Mr Vaughan agreed with one caller who claimed that some shops, including big supermarkets, were beginning to relax a bit too much, no longer enforcing admission numbers or reminding shoppers to clean baskets and trolleys and use gel on their hands.
He said local councils were the place to report concerns in such cases.
The Chief admitted that he, like others, would be unable to see all of his immediate family over the Christmas period, and said he believed that Dorset residents would stick to the rules without the need for any police involvement.
“We certainly won’t be knocking on doors to count the number of people sat around the dinner table,” he said.
Public Health Director for the county, Sam Crowe, told the meeting that while Dorset infection rates had been dropping they could very quickly shoot off the wrong direction again if people did not keep to the basic rules. He said in-home infection spread remained the biggest cause for concern.
He warned against residents relaxing their guard and increasing their contact with other people because they knew a vaccine was on the way and he encouraged people to have it, when offered.
Mr Crowe said that he understood some people did have concerns but said that the same rigour was being applied in testing the vaccines for safety, despite the urgency, and those which got through the trials would be safe.
The public health director said that the county would be getting some rapid test kits and these would be prioritised for the most vulnerable and those who worked with them: “We need to be doing all we can to reduce the risk of harm to those groups,” he said.