North Wales police officers face ridicule after accidentally pulling over their own chief constable during coronavirus lockdown checks amid backlash at ‘overzealous’ enforcement
North Wales police were left red-faced this week after on duty officers pulled over their own Chief Constable during a random check, to ensure he was adhering to coronavirus restrictions.
The incident comes in the same week that police forces up and down the country came under intense criticism for being increasingly overzealous in their lockdown tactics, including the use of drones for public filming and rigorous checkpoint systems.
The North Wales Chief Constable, Carl Foulkes, commended the meticulous work of his team, after being personally pulled over to see if he was complying with regulations of only venturing out for essential travel.
Chief Constable Carl Foulkes took to social media to explain how he had been pulled over by his own team, carrying out coronavirus restriction checks in the North Wales area
Chief Constable Foulkes was driving to Wrexham in order to go out on patrol in the local area when officers working stopped his vehicle to check what he was doing.
Mr Foulkes said the officers’ ‘faces were a picture’ when they realised who they had pulled over the head figure of the North Wales force, before carrying on about their business.
In a post on Twitter, he said: ‘This morning travelling to Wrexham to go out on patrol and pulled over by my own local policing officers, doing a great job, although their faces were a picture.
‘Keep up the good work.’
Restrictions put into place by the Government mean that people can only leave their homes for specific reasons.
This includes going to work if you cannot work from home, going food shopping, getting medicines and exercising once a day.
Last week Mr Foulkes said measures such as arresting people who were not complying with the measures were being considered ‘as a last resort’.
For now, he said police are concentrating their efforts on engaging with any members of the public they see out and about to encourage them to stay at home.
The chief constable, who is keen to provide ‘visible leadership’ to his frontline officers, has been on patrols alongside them.
Last week Mr Foulkes said measures such as arresting people who were not complying with the measures were being considered ‘as a last resort’
Scotland Yard anti-terror chief Neil Basu has demanded officers maintain the British tradition of ‘policing by consent’ and said their conduct would be remembered for generations after they were accused of abusing their powers.
Yet despite this, measures are now cranking up regarding travel and outside activity, after Government pleas for the nation to strictly follow social isolation rules in order to save both lives and the NHS.
It emerged on Wednesday that police will be able to use force on children if they flout the coronavirus lockdown.
Guidance from the College of Policing says ‘reasonable force’ can be used if a youngster is believed to be ‘outside of their premises without reasonable excuse’.
Officers also have the power to fine parents £60 for failing to stop a child from going out.
The guidance spells out that officers can remove a youngster from the streets and anyone with them if they refuse to go home.
The briefing drawn up by the National Police Chiefs’ Council urges officers to make sensible decisions and use enforcement as a last resort.
It also says checks on every vehicle are ‘disproportionate’ and the public should not be punished for travelling a reasonable distance to exercise.