Police focussing on areas of Covid non-compliance
New efforts are being made to enforce Covid-19 restrictions in a bid to help control the spread of the virus across the region.
Officers from West Midlands Police will be focussing on areas with the highest infection rate and the lowest compliance in Birmingham, Solihull, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.
They will be patrolling transport hubs, retail outlets, education establishments, hospitality venues and open spaces to remind people of the measures in place, and issue fines to those breaching them.
Wolverhampton Commander, Chief Superintendent Andy Beard said it was a critical period in the coronavirus fight and said the force would be taking a tougher stance on those people breaching the restrictions.
He said: "These regulations are law and we will be issuing fines to those found flouting them.
"We understand that some of the regulations are confusing and we will be explaining where we find breaches, but if people continually flout these measures, we will not hesitate to take action.
"We are working with other organisations to look at larger scale breaches, such as unlicensed music events or wedding and funeral gatherings, and more recently we have seen breaches at student accommodation and premises following the reopening of universities and colleges."
Councillor Philip Davis, chair of the licensing and public protection committee at Birmingham City Council, said businesses had a responsibility to follow the guidelines and the council would continue to work with the police to enforce the guidelines.
He said: "We have seen a range of contraventions which have led to a number of licence reviews, including one of which resulted in the premises’ licence being revoked for flouting Covid-19 guidelines and restrictions.
"Where businesses are flouting restrictions to such an extent that shows total disregard for people’s safety, we will not hesitate to take action."
