Force fined 306 for rule breaches – but no officers

DURHAM Constabulary insists police are treated “precisely the same” as the public, despite the force not fining a single officer caught flouting Covid restrictions.

Exclusive data shows that, across the North East, a dozen officers were reprimanded for breaking rules they are paid to enforce.

Officers and staff across the region were investigated for attending gatherings, making needless trips and ignoring guidance on PPE and social distancing.

Yet while Northumbria Police fined every rulebreaking PC £100, Durham Constabulary – which has fined hundreds of members of the public – confirmed that no fines were issued. The Chronicle understands other disciplinary measures, ranging from management advice to a final written warning, were issued to staff. A Durham Constabulary spokesperson insisted: “Our officers are treated in precisely the same way as any other member of the public.”

Figures, published earlier this year by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), revealed Durham

Constabulary had fined 306 people for Covid breaches up to January 17. That figure has likely since increased, although a spokesperson said fines were always a “last resort”.

“Our well-documented approach throughout the pandemic has been to engage, explain and encourage members of the public to stick to the rules and only to go to an enforcement stage as a last resort,” they added.

“It is also important to stress that we do not issue retrospective fines in relation to allegations which emerge after the alleged breach.

“We will, however, always take appropriate disciplinary action against those who fail to maintain the high standards we expect of all our officers and staff.”

Data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act shows that three PCs and a PCSO were all fined by Northumbria Police for “meeting with a person from another household” at some point between March 23, 2020, and February 16, 2021.

Those same NPCC figures showed Northumbria Police had fined over 4,000 rulebreakers – more than any other force – with Assistant Chief Constable Neil Hutchison slamming their “selfish”

behaviour.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson declined to comment.

However, the FoI response states that all four officers were “addressed via Practice Requiring Improvement via the Reflective Practice Review Process”.

In Durham, the force’s Professional Standards department carried out 11 investigations in that same period. Of those, nine were officers and two were police staff.

They included three allegations of attending social gatherings, which could constitute a fine under the Government’s rules.

However other allegations – such as not wearing PPE or not socially distancing – would not warrant a fine.

Elsewhere in the region, an officer in Teesside was investigated after a bust-up with staff at Middlesbrough train station because he or she refused to wear a mask to board a train. The unnamed Cleveland Police officer was given a telling off by the force following the “verbal dispute”. However they avoided a £100 fine – because the officer didn’t actually board the train. A Cleveland Police spokesperson said that masks have only been “mandatory” since last October.