“We need to work together and stay safe together” – Chief Constable Simon Cole
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“We need to work together and stay safe together”.
This is the message from Leicestershire Police Chief Constable Simon Cole ahead of the weekend as lockdown restrictions continue in Leicester and the surrounding area.
While tomorrow (Saturday) will see businesses including pubs, restaurants and hairdressers open in some parts of Leicestershire, Rutland and the rest of England - for Leicester and the surrounding area, this will not be the case.
Mr Cole said: “There is no doubt that it has been a challenging time for everyone since Coronavirus entered our lives. And with the announcement made by the Health Secretary on Monday, we have this week found ourselves facing further challenges.
“Our priority always has been and always will be public health. This is about lives and livelihoods and we need to work together to stay safe.
“We understand people are concerned and that there are lots of questions. Over the past few days, our staff and officers, along with our communities, have been quickly adapting to these changes. We have also been continually working with our partners including the local authority and Public Health to ensure communities are well informed about these changes.
“What we continue to ask of you is that if you are living in the area affected, you stay at home, you only travel if essential, wash your hands regularly, maintain two metres social distance from others and get tested if you do have any symptoms.
“If you live outside the area please still ensure you are adhering to Government guidelines, staying responsible, socialising safely and maintaining social distancing.
“We will continue to work with you and will continue using our approach of engaging with you, explaining the guidelines and circumstances and encouraging you to adhere to the advice. We will use enforcement if necessary.
“Ultimately this responsibility is with all of us – this is about protecting ourselves. We need to work together and stay safe together so that we can beat this virus and keep all of our communities protected.”
Throughout the whole lockdown period, officers have worked tirelessly, putting their own lives and the lives of their families at risk in order to deliver their duty, to protect vulnerable people and prevent crime.
This has included proactive patrols across the county and engagement with communities to encourage and explain the Government guidelines. This has been alongside everyday policing work preventing and detecting crime, protecting the vulnerable, bringing people to justice and stop those people who cause the most harm.
Since March, officers have directly dealt with thousands of incidents reported in relation to Covid-19. Many of these have been in relation to reports of people gathering in parks, enclosed spaces or gardens.
Between 27 March and 12 June, more than 450 fixed penalty notices were issued.
- Leicestershire Police is encouraging residents of Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland to sign up to its free community messaging service Neighbourhood Link. This is a fast and easy alert system that allows residents to keep up to date with local news and issues in their area. More than 17,000 people are signed up so far.