Officers Should Brace For ‘Weeks Of New Year’s Eves’

OFFICERS should prepare for a ‘weeks of New Year’s Eves’ when pubs and restaurants start to open again on 4 July, said South Yorkshire Police Federation.

Since lockdown measures were eased, members of the public have been out and about, enjoying the sunshine – and in some cases having too much to drink.

And it is an issue which is only going to get worse for officers when the nation emerges further out of lockdown and can officially hit the pub again, especially if it coincides with good weather.

Punters are being asked to pass on their personal details and keep distanced from one another as they enjoy a pint, but South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent (pictured) is warning members to be ready to deal with drunken disorder.

He said: “The concern for us in the next couple of weeks is going to be the reopening the pubs. We’re going to have a couple of weeks of New Year’s Eves.

“If the sun’s out, it’s not going to help, but we’re just going to have to get through that. Look how busy McDonalds was for its first week of opening.

“It was horrendous, and now they’re back to normal again. So we are going to need to weather that early storm.”

For officers, that means sticking together, staying safe and being ready to deal with anti-social and violent behaviour.

Steve added: “We’ll need to stick together and watch out for each other while these things are going off because occasions of disorder are likely.

“Thankfully the force has been planning this for a while, and they’re planning it with increased staff.

“I’m hoping that officers are exposed as little as possible to that risk – as they are on a New Year’s Eve when there are so many cops out there you can’t go far without seeing one.”

Steve said the likely problems could have been mitigated by switching the reopening of pubs to a Monday or mid-week to stagger demand and to stop everyone from descending on pubs at the same time.

He explained: “It would have been much better to do it Monday or mid-week because it would have just dampened that initial spirit.

“If it’s going to be on a Saturday and if the weather does turn out to be really hot then it is going to be, unfortunately, a bit of a perfect storm.”