Senior police officer calls for calm over lockdown laws

At the same time, Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, Neil Basu, says officers should strive to preserve the public's confidence through persuasion and education, rather than automatic enforcement, after allegations of ‘over-zealous’ policing of social distancing regulations.

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Complaints have included that people have been fined £60 for going out to buy items deemed non-essential, or for going on a drive due to boredom.

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Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Basu called for the public to show understanding toward police, and for officers to ‘police by consent’ as they are compelled to use powers he ‘never imagined a British police officer would be asked to use’.

“Everyone in policing is acutely aware that how we police this pandemic will be remembered for many years to come,” Mr Basu wrote.

“Preserving the trust and confidence of the public by policing by consent is our mantra, and has been since 1829. There will be a period of readjustment to our new responsibilities, which no police officer ever thought they would have.”

Mr Basu urged officers to heed calls by two of Britain's most senior officers, Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick and Martin Hewitt, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), that ‘persuasion and education to do the right thing is our primary goal’, rather than being too quick to impose punishments.