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Coronavirus: What powers do the police have? Coronavirus: What powers do the police have?
(about 20 hours later)
Boris Johnson has unveiled a "conditional plan" to reopen society, allowing people in England to spend more time outdoors. Boris Johnson has changed the lockdown rules in England, allowing people to spend more time outdoors.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are announcing their own changes. In each area, rules will need to be enforced by the police. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own separate rules for managing the threat of coronavirus - but in each part of the UK, the police must enforce them.
This article will be updated to reflect changes in law.
What powers do police have?What powers do police have?
Police have wide-ranging powers to help fight coronavirus, by enforcing social distancing measures designed to keep people apart.Police have wide-ranging powers to help fight coronavirus, by enforcing social distancing measures designed to keep people apart.
The three key tools they have been given are:The three key tools they have been given are:
Initially there was a gap between what London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast advised people to do on health grounds, and the actual limits of the laws they created that restricted movement. These powers came into force without a vote in each part of the UK following orders made by ministers.
The law came into force in each part of the UK as "statutory instruments". That's the technical name for an order made by a minister which can go straight into law without a vote: They could create these regulations without debate because their respective parliament or assembly had earlier given them the power to do so.
Individual police officers have enormous discretion and there will be differences in what they decide to do. That has led to accusations that some have been overzealous. How can police enforce the lockdown?
What punishments can police enforce? It is against the law in every part of the UK to be outside the place where you live "without reasonable excuse", or to be part of a public gathering.
Across the UK,a police officer can order a non-essential business to close while coronavirus regulations are in place. If someone refuses to follow the regulations - for instance a request to break up a barbecue and go home - officers can give them an on-the-spot fine.
Police can also enforce the two key social distancing rules, which ban: In England those fines now start at £100 for a first offence - reduced to £50 if paid promptly, through to a maximum of £3,200.
If someone refuses to follow the regulations - for instance a request to go home - officers can give them an on-the-spot fine of £60, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days. If they keep breaking the law, more fines can be given - up to a maximum of £960. They are lower in the rest of the UK.
From Wednesday, those fines are expected to change in England - and go up to £100 for a first offence, through to a maximum of £3,200. Police could ultimately charge anyone, anywhere in the UK, with the offence of breaching coronavirus regulations.
Police could ultimately charge someone with the more serious criminal offence of breaching coronavirus regulations and a direction to follow them. This could lead to a conviction in a magistrates court and an unlimited fine. That power would lead to court, possible conviction - and therefore a criminal record - and even greater fines.
What is a reasonable excuse to leave home?What is a reasonable excuse to leave home?
A "reasonable excuse" which would avoid a fine includes: If you are stopped, police need to know that you have a "reasonable excuse" to be outside. The law in each part of the UK has never been clear on what this absolutely means. It only gave examples, such as:
Boris Johnson says people in England, from Wednesday, will be able to take "more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise". Previously, exercise was only allowed once a day. In Scotland and Wales people can already exercise more than once a day - but in Wales they should start and finish exercise from home, rather than drive somewhere first. The law stresses that if you're on your own property, including a yard, garage or alley which is part of where you live, the police have no power to tell you what to do, unless you're having a gathering that's breaking the lockdown.
Mr Johnson also says it would be a reasonable excuse, in England, to go outside to sunbathe, drive to other destinations and "play sports but only with members of your own household".
From Wednesday, in England, you will also be able to meet and associate in a public place with one other person from outside your household, but public gatherings of more than two people from different households remain prohibited in law across the UK.
Police can't order you home if you're going to the doctor, out helping someone else with their care, or carrying out another public service.
It is important to note that it is not a crime to leave your home to flee harm - for example, domestic abuse.
How are the rules and advice different across the UK?How are the rules and advice different across the UK?
This is where the problems start for individuals trying to abide by the law - and the police who need to enforce it. In England, there has been a big legal change, which does not apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
There could be "reasonable excuses" that the government has not thought of. In England, it is now a reasonable excuse to be outside for recreation or exercise with one other person who doesn't live with you.
And there is now a distinct difference - and potential conflict - in the advice being given in England, Wales and Scotland. So, you could meet a friend or relative for a bike ride, walk or visit to a public park or garden - as long as you stay 2m (6ft) apart at all times - without fear of being questioned by the police.
In Scotland, the Holyrood government says it's now a reasonable excuse to exercise more than once a day. But the law didn't say that it wasn't allowed in the first place. That rule has not been changed in other parts of the UK - so the police could still fine you in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for chatting with a friend while feeding the ducks.
But, unlike in England, it doesn't say outdoor time could be unlimited - and it maintains that there is a ban on sunbathing. Police in Scotland could move you on or fine you if you lie down in a public park to do so. Mr Johnson also said people would now be allowed to drive to other locations to take "more and even unlimited amounts of outdoor exercise".
The Welsh Government is dropping its ban on exercising more than once a day - but it is insisting it will still be an offence for someone to drive across the border from England for a day outdoors, for instance to go hill walking. Yet, Mr Johnson in London has told people they can drive to other destinations. Confusingly, unlimited exercise was never actually banned in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
All of this means frontline police may need to work very hard to decide whether someone is wilfully breaking the rules or has a genuine defence that their motivation for being outdoors is sound. Wales did initially ban exercising more than once a day before lifting it - and its police are still being asked to ensure people aren't travelling far from home. More on this point in a moment.
The College of Policing for England and Wales told officers in official guidance: "Use your judgement and common sense. For example, people will want to exercise locally and may need to travel to do so, we don't want the public sanctioned for travelling a reasonable distance to exercise." Mr Johnson has also said it would be a reasonable excuse to be outside to sunbathe. There has never been a legal ban on sunbathing written into the law in any part of the UK.
John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said Mr Johnson's plans risked being a set of "loose rules that are left open to interpretation" and difficult to enforce. It means that police in England will no longer be considering whether they should order people to move on if they are snoozing in the sun.
And in Gwent - on the western side of the River Severn crossings - the Police and Crime Commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, predicted the prime minister's message would cause confusion. But... the Scottish government disagrees. It maintains that sunbathing could spread the virus - it's not a reasonable excuse to be outside.
"I'm sure what he has said has muddied the water," he said. "I'm worried about my colleagues in England. There's going to be confusion in the minds of many people." So taking a hypothetical example, someone basking on the English side of the River Tweed won't be fined by the police - but someone on the opposite Scottish bank might be.
Have police misused the powers? In all parts of the UK, gatherings of more than two people from different households - be they in public or on private land - remain banned.
As the Easter weekend approached, the Northamptonshire force suggested it might start policing supermarkets, if people didn't heed official warnings, and check "baskets and trolleys" to see whether people were buying "legitimate, necessary items". Can police stop travel from one part of the UK to the other?
Cambridgeshire Police tweeted that officers were pleased "the non-essential aisles were empty" of people at one supermarket. This is a moot point. The ban on holidays and staying away from home remains in force - but the prime minister says you can travel.
Both forces have now admitted they have no right to snoop in people's baskets. But... he has no say over how the coronavirus regulations should be enforced by police outside England.
Separately, Daniel Connell of Rotherham won an apology from South Yorkshire Police after an officer ordered him to leave his own front garden. Let's take another hypothetical example.
The law across the UK explicitly says people can all go about their private business at "the premises where they live together with any garden, yard, passage, stair, garage [or] outhouse". If a family from Bristol drives 50 miles, within England, for a day's country walking on Exmoor, it is difficult to see how they would now be stopped by Devon and Cornwall Police.
So the law recognises that if you're on your own property, you are on private land and, as a consequence, you should be able to sensibly comply with the distancing measures. But... if the same family drives 50 miles to the Brecon Beacons in Wales, their planned hike runs the risk of South Wales Police giving them a ticket and escorting them back over the Severn Crossing.
Derbyshire Police took enormous flak before the official start of lockdown when it followed Peak District walkers with a drone. What advice have police received?
Former Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption says the force went too far, but its chief constable said the drone operation was aimed to prevent the national park being over-run, increasing the likelihood of contagion. Front-line police may need to work very hard to decide whether someone is wilfully breaking the rules, has a genuine defence or has misunderstood them because of the differences across the UK.
In April, police chiefs in England and Wales told people they should go to "local" beauty spots, if they wanted to go walking, while observing social distancing. But the law doesn't require walking to be "local" - nor does it ban you from driving to the countryside to go walking. Officers across all four parts of the UK have been told by their chiefs to follow "Four Es":
Cheshire Police says it has summonsed someone to court for going out for a drive because they were "bored". But John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales - which represents ordinary beat officers - said Mr Johnson's plans could be difficult to enforce.
Is driving to relieve the boredom of being stuck inside a reasonable excuse? And Gwent's Police and Crime Commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, predicted the prime minister's message would cause confusion.
We won't know unless that's tested in court by someone who challenges a fine.
While the Coronavirus law says nothing specifically about going for a drive, police do, of course, have a general power to stop vehicles and enter property.
So a constable can pull you over and ask why you're out - and if you don't have a "reasonable excuse", you could be committing an offence.
That said, the official guidance to police forces doesn't rule out road blocks if a force thinks they are necessary. It just warns that checking all vehicles would be "disproportionate".
What are police now being asked to do?
Officers across all four parts of the UK have been told by police chiefs to follow the "Four Es":
The National Police Chiefs Council has urged people to use their common sense - by thinking about whether they should leave home. And it wants officers to exercise their discretion by focusing on the law's aim and purpose.