'Stay at home' urges Norfolk Police chief
We must stick to lockdown
Last updated 9th Jan 2021
Norfolk’s Chief Constable has called on communities to ‘stay at home’ as the county faces it biggest challenge yet since the start of pandemic.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey said it was essential that the public adhered to the rules following a surge in COVID cases linked to a new, more infectious strain of the virus.
The government announced a third national lockdown on Monday (4 January 2020), which sees a requirement for people to stay at home and only leave for a reasonable excuse, including shopping for food and medicines, seeking medical treatment and providing care or help to a vulnerable person.
Mr Bailey said:
"The emergence of new, more transmissible strain of coronavirus has seen a rapid rise in positive cases across the country and here in Norfolk.
"It is clear that coronavirus is more prevalent in our communities than ever before and as an organisation, we are not immune to this.
"Our officers and staff are part of those communities and since December we’ve seen a rise in our sickness levels, with increasing numbers of our workforce testing positive or having to self-isolate.
"We have detailed plans in place to deal with staff shortages, to make sure we can continue to deliver our core services and while responding to urgent calls and protecting people from harm.
"However, there’s no doubt this will be our biggest challenge yet since the start of the pandemic and my message to the public is please work with us. Let’s do everything we can to stop the spread of this virus.
"We all have a part to play in keeping people safe, our friends, family and loved ones, as well as the wider community, many of whom will play essential roles in public services such as policing, health care and teaching.
"We know these are challenging times and that people are having to make great sacrifices in order to adhere to the restrictions, but the rising numbers of positive cases and deaths should serve as a stark reminder to us all of why these measures are in place."
As with previous lockdown, officers will have powers available to them to issues fines to people who break the rules.
Officers will continue to follow the so-called ‘4Es’ approach of engage, explain, encourage with enforcement carried out as and when required.
Mr Bailey added:
"Our approach will always be to encourage voluntarily compliance in the first instance, but officers will be visible and they will take action when required.
"Since the start of this pandemic we’ve engaged widely with the public; people know the risks, they know the rules and what is expected of them. So those who blatantly ignore the rules should expect to receive a fine and we will target our resources towards those who commit the most serious breaches and put others at risk through their behaviour."