Police forces handing out the most and least coronavirus fines revealed
Staffordshire Police is the force least likely to issue fines for breaking coronavirus rules in the region, new figures released today reveal.
But anyone venturing into Dyfed-Powys Police territory should beware as its officers are likely to throw the book at any rule breakers.
Police in the force's area are 87 times more likely to dish out coronavirus fines than officers in Staffordshire, according to the figures.
Forces
West Midlands Police officers are also among those issuing the fewest tickets.
Analysis using fines data published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and population figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed which forces were more likely to hand out the penalties.
The three forces in England and Wales that issued the highest number of fixed penalty notices per 1,000 population were Dyfed-Powys with 3.34, followed by Cumbria with 1.46, and North Yorkshire with 1.4.
The three forces at the bottom of the table were Staffordshire police with 0.038, Kent Police with 0.07 and Warwickshire with 0.11.
The figures show that, between March 27 and September 21, Dyfed-Powys Police issues 1,731 tickets.
The figure for Staffordshire is 43 and for the West Midlands as a whole 380.
Only 170 were issued by West Mercia Police.
Human rights lawyer Kirsty Brimelow said: “Your treatment by the police should not be dependent upon your postcode.
'Results reflect the leadership of forces'
“It is likely that the arbitrary results reflect the leadership given to the particular police force.
“We’ve seen many examples of police chiefs signalling tough action, which went beyond their powers.”
According to analysis using 2018 police force area population totals published by the ONS, fine rates in some parts of England with additional restrictions in place remained below average.
Greater Manchester (0.163, 31st), West Midlands (0.13, 37th) and Northumbria (0.19, 29th) were all in the lower half of the rankings, while Durham (0.28, 21st) and West Yorkshire (18th, 0.33) were near the middle.
However, Lancashire (0.55) and Cleveland (0.52) came in seventh and eighth place respectively.
In Wales, which has its own lockdown rules, North Wales was in fifth place with 0.68, South Wales in 25th with 0.23 and Gwent in 27th with 0.22.
