Enforcers’ tough line on the rule breakers
THE senior police officer leading the investigation into parties at Downing Street is no stranger to controversy.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Jane Connors, the Metropolitan Police’s lead for Covid-19, was embroiled in a row over the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil.
The force faced sustained criticism over a vigil in Clapham held for the 33-year-old marketing executive after she was abducted and murdered by Scotland Yard firearms officer Wayne Couzens.
There was outrage when officers were seen pinning mourners to the ground.
Following the event last March, Miss Connors defended officers saying the force had to ‘take some enforcement action as the evening progressed’.
A few months later, she defended the force’s policing plan again after Wembley Stadium security was overwhelmed by ticketless fans at the Euros final.
One of the force’s leading female offices, she has most recently lead the force’s ‘tough stance’ on Covid, saying previously: ‘We make no apology for our tough stance on shutting down those large gatherings which pose a serious risk to public health.’
In March last year she said: ‘I want to be clear, where people have dangerously and blatantly broken the rules, we won’t hesitate to take action by issuing fixed penalty notices.’
Commander Catherine Roper, head of the Special Enquiry Team, will report detectives’ findings to Miss Connors. She was also involved in the vigil, announcing it had been officially cancelled due to Covid rules.
As part of the Scotland Yard’s Crime Prevention, Inclusion & Engagement Command, she took a role in Covid enforcement, advising religious leaders not to hold clandestine services after a church minister was threatened with arrest if he held a baptism.