Police checking travel

[Ianno87]

Can't say I've noticed a difference in traffic either.

 

[Domh245]

It's not even that quiet now. I wouldn't say there's much of a difference in London compared to last week. In fact, with there being a bit of blue sky today if anything there's been more people out and about.

Of course, apart from most school children no longer going in for classes, nothing much has changed in London

 

[roversfan2001]

An absolute blinder on the PIS at Preston station at the moment...

* COVID-19 * NATIONAL * TIER 5 *
* DO NOT TRAVEL - STAY AT HOME *
Rail Services are ONLY for
KEY WORKERS.
You must wear a face covering
* COVID-19 * LANCASHIRE * TIER 5 *
* DO NOT TRAVEL - STAY AT HOME *
Leisure travel is NOT permitted

That’s so wrong that it’s impressive. Is anything there even correct?

 

[C J Snarzell]

Greater Manchester Police need to deal with the 80,000 crimes they've cuffed and 80,000 victims they've let down before hounding joe public going from A to B.

CJ

 

[bramling]

Greater Manchester Police need to deal with the 80,000 crimes they've cuffed and 80,000 victims they've let down before hounding joe public going from A to B.

CJ

Completely agree there's far more important crimes to which police resources should be directed ahead of people sitting on park benches. This is the trouble with Boris keeping churning out these half-baked laws though, I don't really blame the police though there's clearly a small minority of bad applies in there who are taking this too far.

 

[37424]

I can’t really see how the police can determine who to stop and question if the roads remain as busy as they have been today. I wasn’t expecting it to be as quiet on the roads as it was back in March and April but I was expecting it to be fairly quiet. Through the village where I live in Nottinghamshire, which is on a B road, it certainly hasn’t been quiet. When there is a constant stream of traffic all day how can the police justify picking on just a few individuals. Last week, whilst we were supposedly in Tier 4, I drove to the hospital in Nottingham and the volume of traffic was extremely high for the whole journey. It’s not been as busy today but it’s certainly not quiet. During March and April, when driving to the shop in the next village I often never passed another car. Today I was stuck in quite a lengthy queue of traffic at some temporary traffic lights.

Well I suspect the chance's of being stopped are probably not very high, but If I were I have got 3 visits to Hospital next week 2 of which I have no letter for, they were arranged over the phone so would they try and turn me away? In which case that would be a You Tube job 'Police stop Blood Cancer patient going to the Cancer day care unit'

Now I realise they have a difficult job but the attitude of some leaves a lot to be desired like the Policeman and the Teenager in the video and my own experiences in normal times hasn't been great including one who decided I was a terrorist for taking a Train Photo from a Road Bridge.

 

[C J Snarzell]

Completely agree there's far more important crimes to which police resources should be directed ahead of people sitting on park benches. This is the trouble with Boris keeping churning out these half-baked laws though, I don't really blame the police though there's clearly a small minority of bad applies in there who are taking this too far.

The GMP command team are not just bad apples they are rotten apples. The recently departed Ian Hopkins is just one of many senior reptiles in that organisation. Hopefully the special measures and the intervention of the HMIC will root a few more more wrong un's and restore confidence in the cops on street and of course the public.

CJ

 

[squizzler]

I can’t really see how the police can determine who to stop and question if the roads remain as busy as they have been today. I wasn’t expecting it to be as quiet on the roads as it was back in March and April but I was expecting it to be fairly quiet. Through the village where I live in Nottinghamshire, which is on a B road, it certainly hasn’t been quiet. When there is a constant stream of traffic all day how can the police justify picking on just a few individuals. Last week, whilst we were supposedly in Tier 4, I drove to the hospital in Nottingham and the volume of traffic was extremely high for the whole journey. It’s not been as busy today but it’s certainly not quiet. During March and April, when driving to the shop in the next village I often never passed another car. Today I was stuck in quite a lengthy queue of traffic at some temporary traffic lights.

I think it is important that the likelihood of being challenged for travelling during lockdown be as least as much for those travelling by road as for those using the transport system. In fact transport users should have less need to justify their travel than motorists, as they are not harming air quality which is known to be the major factor in people's likelihood of catching and suffering chronic symptoms from Covid.

Actually if I were in charge, those community road safety initiatives who don yellow vests and do speed checks through their villages would be empowered to stop and question motorists about their journeys. People will seriously consider their need to travel if they had to justify themselves to a retired jobsworth with too much time on their hands

 

[MrTurbostar170]

My flatmate travelled back to Uni today by public transport, from Sheffield down to Kent. He encountered no issues whatsoever travelling down.

 

[Huntergreed]

Travelled Lockerbie to Glasgow and back today. Not a police officer in sight at any point of either journey - I was the only one in my carriage on both trips (397 out and 390 back)

 

[SteveM70]

Travelled Lockerbie to Glasgow and back today. Not a police officer in sight at any point of either journey - I was the only one in my carriage on both trips (397 out and 390 back)

Thats a relief. I had a mental image of you on a motorbike jumping the barbed wire barricades like a modern day Steve McQueen

 

[route101]

Travelled Lockerbie to Glasgow and back today. Not a police officer in sight at any point of either journey - I was the only one in my carriage on both trips (397 out and 390 back)

How was the loadings for services?

 

[ValentaFan1974]

The face covering law/guidance to be fair is pointless in its current form. All 70 million people in this country could just say they’re exempt and it’s unenforceable. To be honest with this new strain of virus I don’t think the masks are effective anyway. Maintaining social distancing and making sure hands are clean etc is more important.

 

[BJames]

New policing guidance - https://paas-s3-broker-prod-lon-645...fing-Tier-4-Health-Protection-Regs-060120.pdf

Apologies, I cannot quote from all of this as it is 30 pages long and on a powerpoint-style PDF. The bit I wanted to note was in reference to @MrTurbostar170 -

It is reasonably necessary for a student undertaking a higher education course to leave or be outside the home to move on one occasion from a student household before 8 February 2021 to one other household (‘vacation household’) for the purposes of a vacation, or to return to the term time accommodation after the vacation.

Which is nice because I shall be doing this too in order to get back to University. I was going to do it anyway, but it makes it easier when I've got their own guidance and also the statutory instrument printed out to show them if I do get stopped and a simple explanation isn't good enough. But from what I've seen and heard here and elsewhere, I don't expect to encounter any problems.

 

[Mojo]

New policing guidance - https://paas-s3-broker-prod-lon-645...fing-Tier-4-Health-Protection-Regs-060120.pdf

I know the BBC described this as "guidance," but it seems anything but and just writes itself as a layman's summary of the law. The document the College of Policing / National Police Chiefs Council published in April, which gave clear examples and instances of what was they believed to be allowed and what they believed was not allowed was more in line with what I would term as guidance.

 

[bramling]

The face covering law/guidance to be fair is pointless in its current form. All 70 million people in this country could just say they’re exempt and it’s unenforceable. To be honest with this new strain of virus I don’t think the masks are effective anyway. Maintaining social distancing and making sure hands are clean etc is more important.

This is something which has annoyed me with masks. Before thcame in, most (though not quite all) people made some effort to keep distance, especially with things like where they sat on a lightly loaded train.

When masks came in all that stopped. I’ve had plenty of cases of someone all masked up to the hilt jumping on and completely needlessly coming and sitting very close by. 9 out of 10 times it will be some self-satisfied-looking nit-wit who is all masked up to perfection.

This is one of a number of reasons why I’m firmly of the opinion that masks are part of the problem, not a solution to it. My views have only hardened over time such that I have now gone completely maskless. No doubt I will probably have an encounter with the Dick squad at some point.

 

[geoffk]

I think it is important that the likelihood of being challenged for travelling during lockdown be as least as much for those travelling by road as for those using the transport system. In fact transport users should have less need to justify their travel than motorists, as they are not harming air quality which is known to be the major factor in people's likelihood of catching and suffering chronic symptoms from Covid.

Actually if I were in charge, those community road safety initiatives who don yellow vests and do speed checks through their villages would be empowered to stop and question motorists about their journeys. People will seriously consider their need to travel if they had to justify themselves to a retired jobsworth with too much time on their hands

I'm due to move house 250 miles in the next few weeks and will have to go by car for obvious reasons. Perhaps I should ask my solicitor for a letter in case of any problems.

 

[Butts]

Travelled Lockerbie to Glasgow and back today. Not a police officer in sight at any point of either journey - I was the only one in my carriage on both trips (397 out and 390 back)

As predicted.....

Next time be really adventurous and cross the Border - whatever led you to believe Police were actively checking services ?

Thats a relief. I had a mental image of you on a motorbike jumping the barbed wire barricades like a modern day Steve McQueen

He didn't even get over the Border

I can imagine him bricking it on my Falkirk Grahamston to Sandwell & Dudley jaunt prior to Christmas.

 

[Huntergreed]

As predicted.....

Next time be really adventurous and cross the Border - whatever led you to believe Police were actively checking services ?

The fact that my friend who travelled up yesterday from Carlisle was stopped 3 times (at Carlisle, onboard and at Central) and asked for a reason and if they had anything to back it up (so they tell me!)

 

[Sprinter107]

This is something which has annoyed me with masks. Before thcame in, most (though not quite all) people made some effort to keep distance, especially with things like where they sat on a lightly loaded train.

When masks came in all that stopped. I’ve had plenty of cases of someone all masked up to the hilt jumping on and completely needlessly coming and sitting very close by. 9 out of 10 times it will be some self-satisfied-looking nit-wit who is all masked up to perfection.

This is one of a number of reasons why I’m firmly of the opinion that masks are part of the problem, not a solution to it. My views have only hardened over time such that I have now gone completely maskless. No doubt I will probably have an encounter with the Dick squad at some point.

I agree with what you have said. The whole mask system is flawed anyway, as anyone who doesn't want to wear one will just say they are exempt, and it would be impossible to know whether they were or weren't, so maybe it should be made voluntary instead of mandatory. I did read a while back that the virus can remain active on a mask for upto seven days. Whether thats correct or not, I dont know.

 

[WelshBluebird]

This is something which has annoyed me with masks. Before thcame in, most (though not quite all) people made some effort to keep distance, especially with things like where they sat on a lightly loaded train.

When masks came in all that stopped. I’ve had plenty of cases of someone all masked up to the hilt jumping on and completely needlessly coming and sitting very close by. 9 out of 10 times it will be some self-satisfied-looking nit-wit who is all masked up to perfection.

This is one of a number of reasons why I’m firmly of the opinion that masks are part of the problem, not a solution to it. My views have only hardened over time such that I have now gone completely maskless. No doubt I will probably have an encounter with the Dick squad at some point.

I don't understand your logic at all.
People aren't distancing when wearing masks does not mean masks are the problem. It means people not distancing when wearing masks is the problem.
And surely the answer to that is to move away from those people, not just refuse to wear a mask?

Whether thats correct or not, I dont know.

So why post the comment?
If you don't know if something you are posting is true - surely the correct response is to either not post it, or to research to see if it is true or not and only post it if it is true?
This is the exact reason why conspiracy theories and misinformation have run rampant online - people don't bother to check what they are sharing.

 

[yorksrob]

The whole point of masks is to enable activity to continue in settings where social distancing might not be possible, so it's not surprising that people distance less when wearing them.

 

[WelshBluebird]

The whole point of masks is to enable activity to continue in settings where social distancing might not be possible, so it's not surprising that people distance less when wearing them.

Not to the extent that bramling is claiming though.
The guidance is 1m+ with masks where more distancing isn't possible, not someone "needlessly coming and sitting very close by" on a nearly empty train.

 

[Yew]

Neither the police officer nor the teenager comes out of this encounter particularly well, but the officer is clearly frustrated that the youngster knows that proof of exemption is not required under the law.
I don’t know if he is a chancer or genuinely exempt, but it’s no wonder some of those who ARE exempt are fearful of encountering this kind of police officer.
I am perfectly capable of keeping an even temper and asserting my rights; many others however are not

You can see how the officer is trying to rile the person to try and escalate the situation.

 

[Ken H]

Yes i was accosted by BTP and given a fine for not wearing a mask and not being able to `prove` my exemption. This on the concourse at Leeds station. Disgarceful approach from BTP.

dont pay the fine. go to court and say you were exempt. they are not allowed to ask to prove your exemption. And make a civil claim for disability discrimination.

 

[bramling]

Not to the extent that bramling is claiming though.
The guidance is 1m+ with masks where more distancing isn't possible, not someone "needlessly coming and sitting very close by" on a nearly empty train.

And what exactly is one metre plus, apart from another Boris fudge?

Surely at the moment if things are as dire as we are being told, it should be distance as much as possible? Yet masks seem to make some, or even many, people feel they don’t need to do this.

I think we all know masks were a reassurance tool, brought in at a time when the government was attempting to encourage people back to their workplaces or into shops. We now have a situation where it seems distancing is more important, yet people are treating a reassurance tool (which doesn’t seem to be having much if any effect at reducing spread) as a viable mitigation measure. People simply weren’t doing that to anything like the same extent in the March to July period last year.

 

[Mojo]

There have been some really nasty statements on the news from the police over the past few days. I’ve heard of statements from the police including the following
- saying they will be taking details of anyone in a supermarket not wearing a muzzle, to allow them to investigate anyone claiming an exemption
- telling “key workers” [sic] to carry proof of employment for when they are stopped on their way to / from work
- advising they will be routinely stopping traffic and people to ask why they aren’t at home

I’m hoping this is all just a PR exercise rather like Shapps saying before Christmas that rail customers would be asked by police to explain where they’re going; it makes all the people locking themselves in at home feel good and sound whilst the problem is under control whilst the rest of us can just get on with it.

 

[Sprinter107]

I don't understand your logic at all.
People aren't distancing when wearing masks does not mean masks are the problem. It means people not distancing when wearing masks is the problem.
And surely the answer to that is to move away from those people, not just refuse to wear a mask?


So why post the comment?
If you don't know if something you are posting is true - surely the correct response is to either not post it, or to research to see if it is true or not and only post it if it is true?
This is the exact reason why conspiracy theories and misinformation have run rampant online - people don't bother to check what they are sharing.

I posted it because someone else more knowledgeable than me may be able to enlighten me if that fact is true , if that's OK with you that is

 

[bramling]

There have been some really nasty statements on the news from the police over the past few days. I’ve heard of statements from the police including the following
- saying they will be taking details of anyone in a supermarket not wearing a muzzle, to allow them to investigate anyone claiming an exemption
- telling “key workers” [sic] to carry proof of employment for when they are stopped on their way to / from work
- advising they will be routinely stopping traffic and people to ask why they aren’t at home

I’m hoping this is all just a PR exercise rather like Shapps saying before Christmas that rail customers would be asked by police to explain where they’re going; it makes all the people locking themselves in at home feel good and sound whilst the problem is under control whilst the rest of us can just get on with it.

I’m not carrying proof of employment. If the Dick squad wish to send me home then I will gladly do so.

You can see how the officer is trying to rile the person to try and escalate the situation.

Another pretty poor display from the police. Incidentally, is that Stevenage station where this took place?

 

[Domh245]

There have been some really nasty statements on the news from the police over the past few days. I’ve heard of statements from the police including the following
- saying they will be taking details of anyone in a supermarket not wearing a muzzle, to allow them to investigate anyone claiming an exemption
- telling “key workers” [sic] to carry proof of employment for when they are stopped on their way to / from work
- advising they will be routinely stopping traffic and people to ask why they aren’t at home

Daily mail article but:

Police will fine people FIRST time they are caught not wearing a mask

Scotland Yard revealed officers will be told to stop civilians in the street and quiz them on why they are not shut away in their homes.

www.dailymail.co.uk

No second chances! Police will fine people the FIRST time they are caught not wearing a mask in shops or on public transport, or for leaving their home without a reason​

• Scotland Yard revealed that officers will be told to stop civilians in the street and ask why they are not at home
• Those who cannot give excuse will be fined up to £6,400 and those without masks where needed will be fined
• The ratcheting up of enforcement comes as police dish out new instructions to officers in England and Wales
• Police arrested 28 demonstrators for flouting restrictions and fined four men £800 for driving to McDonald's

Police enforcing the lockdown laws will fine people the first time they are caught not wearing face coverings or being outside without a suitable reason.

Scotland Yard revealed officers will be told to stop civilians in the street and quiz them on why they are not shut away in their homes.

Anyone who cannot give a lawful excuse will be fined up to £6,400 and those caught without face coverings in necessary areas will also be slapped with an on the spot penalty notice.

Police chiefs are dishing out new instructions to officers in England and Wales to fine people more quickly when their breach is obvious.

It comes on a day where police arrested 28 protesters for flouting restrictions, fined four friends £800 for travelling in the same car to McDonald's and policemen pulled over motorists to check where they were going.

A surefire way to lose public trust and compliance