“We do not have the resource to shut down illegal raves”

SOUTH Yorkshire Police Federation says officers have the ‘tools but not the resources’ to shut down illegal raves and gatherings.

New anti-virus legislation has empowered forces to hand out £10,000 fines to organisers of mass events where social distancing is ignored.

It’s been brought in by the Government to tackle a wave of raves which have sprung up across the country since lockdown was eased.

Alongside the fine for organisers, those who attend gatherings and those who do not wear face coverings where it is mandatory can be given a £100 penalty, doubling on each offence up to £3,200.

It’s a useful tool to have says Steve Kent, South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair, but he’s concerned officers don’t have the capacity or resources to go out and shut down mass parties.

“I’ve gone on record before about the pressures in terms of policing the wearing of facemasks, and the force’s view is pretty common sense in that we haven’t got the resources to police people going in and out of shops,” he said.

“Thankfully we haven’t seen loads of incidents about that. The message has got out there.

“In terms of the raves, we welcome the ability to fine for gatherings because that may act as a deterrent. Until now we’ve seen several events popping up all over the country, not just in South Yorkshire, and it just seems people are just doing it because they think they can,” he added.

“The flip side is that it’s a significant strain on us to go and try and shut these gatherings down, but at least there are the tools there to try and focus and target the people who are organising them. £10,000 is quite a deterrent,” he added.

“So it’s a bit of a mixed bag with that. We haven’t got the resources to go and shut things down, but at least there are the tools there to punish the people who do set them up.”

Steve also wants to see more straightforward guidance for officers about when and where they should be wearing masks themselves after new guidelines were introduced with just three hours warning over one weekend.

“There was a whole new range of measures that came in with literally three hours’ notice which put the fore in a difficult position,” he said.

“It confuses the message to officers about when they should and shouldn’t wear face coverings.

“That kind of comms from the NPCC and central Government aren’t particularly helpful, and they create confusion.

“Officers just want to have simple instructions about what they should and shouldn’t do. There are too many grey areas; we just need clear, common-sense guidelines for officers to follow.”