We continue to need community spirit

As the vaccination programme continues to gather pace across the North East and beyond, I know we are all looking forward to a more positive spring and summer.

This week marked the one-year anniversary since the introduction of lockdown measures across the United Kingdom, introduced following the coronavirus pandemic, something that brought so much change to our way of life.

I’m proud to have witnessed first-hand how our communities have pulled together during times of difficulty and adversity to look out for each other.

That strong community spirit will still be needed over the coming months as we take the tentative first steps towards a return to normal life.

From a policing perspective, I’d like to express how grateful I am to families across Sunderland and South Tyneside who continue to follow the restrictions that are in place to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Policing has certainly had to adapt and find new ways of working over the last year, and I am immensely proud of my officers, staff and volunteers who continue to show such resilience to provide the very best service that you rightly expect and deserve.

From the outset, we have been clear about how we would police the regulations – and that will not change over the coming weeks.

We will continue to apply discretion and judgement when engaging with the public, but if anyone shows a blatant disregard for the rules, we will not hesitate in taking appropriate and necessary enforcement action in order to protect the wider communities.

We want to urge everyone to adhere to the rules as this will mean crucial emergency service resources are not diverted to deal with such circumstances that can easily be avoided.