Staffordshire’s police chief says officers will “use enforcement to protect people” if coronavirus restrictions are not followed.
The comments from Chief Constable Gareth Morgan following the introduction of a new three tier system across the UK.
Lichfield and Burntwood are currently in the medium tier of the Prime Minister’s system.
But Ch Cons Morgan said people could not become complacent.
“Although Staffordshire remains in the medium tier, which means no further restrictions will come into place at this time, other areas in the wider region are seeing much tighter restrictions and this should be seen as a warning of what could happen here if the rules are not closely followed.
“Cases in the area are continuing to rise and I see this as a pivotal point in how we as a county need to make sure we adhere to the rules and protect lives and livelihoods.
“As a police service, we recognise that the past few months have been challenging for people and will continue to be as winter approaches.
“However, the stakes have never been higher for the county and if people are caught flouting the rules and breaking the law we will act quickly to use enforcement to protect people.
“Police patrols will be stepped up across areas where people are not adhering to restrictions and fines will be issued if people ignore the rules.”
Ch Cons Gareth Morgan, Staffordshire Police
The chief constable said he remained confident that only a minority of residents were failing to follow coronavirus restrictions.
“We know the majority of people in Staffordshire are doing their best to follow the regulations in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, for which we would like to thank local communities.
“Our approach throughout has been to support the public in following the regulations by engaging, explaining and encouraging, and enforcing with a fine as last resort.
“That will continue, but where people are knowingly breaching the regulations there to protect us all and not listening to police officers, we will not hesitate to take stricter enforcement action and issue a fine.”
Ch Cons Gareth Morgan, Staffordshire Police
