If the police are to maintain public support in these turbulent times they must ensure that their actions are consistent, necessary & proportionate, says Nicholas Dobson
- The restrictions imposed by Government regulation to curtail coronavirus transmission are unprecedently stringent and are therefore designed to be temporary.
- Police and other officials designated to enforce the restrictions need to do so sensibly and proportionately if they are to maintain public confidence.
It wasn’t quite Neville Chamberlain declaring war. But it was still a showstopper. Literally. For on the evening of 23 March 2020, Boris Johnson called the nation to arms against COVID-19 and ‘the devastating impact of this invisible killer’. He issued ‘a very simple instruction’ to the British people—‘you must stay at home’. For we must ‘stop the disease spreading between households’. Although the instructions were simple, they were stark and unprecedented. People would be allowed to leave their homes for only the following ‘very limited purposes’, namely:
- shopping for basic necessities as infrequently as possible;
- one form of exercise a day—for example a run, walk, or cycle—alone or with
