Keep calm and carry a dog ... how British life goes on Corona won’t stop crime f ighting, pledges top cop
SCOTLAND’s most senior police officer has vowed there will be no let-up in the fight against crime – despite the coronavirus outbreak.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone moved to allay public fears over civil disobedience related to food stocks and a potential lockdown.
He promised the elderly and vulnerable that they will continue to see an officer turn up at their door if they report a crime.
Yesterday, Mr Livingstone said: ‘We are committed to making sure that every one of Scotland’s citizens are looked after.
‘It might be that other forces around Europe take the view that in these times that cannot be compared with anything we have known in more than half a century, that only murders and other serious and violent crimes will get our attention. I would never make that call in Scotland.
‘If someone who is robust reports a minor crime and we can manage them via a telephone call, that will be one thing. But if an elderly person living on their own in a rural community is the victim of a minor theft that has left them feeling distressed and fearful, we will send officers to deal with them, reassure them and attend to their needs.’
Mr Livingstone also stressed it would be ‘business as usual’ for Police Scotland in dealing with day to day crime and warned criminals they should not expect to be bailed just because of the deadly virus.
Lord Advocate James Wolffe, QC, head of Scotland’s prosecution service, has also stressed accused people considered a danger will not be released ahead of their trial.
Mr Livingstone also said there would be no halting of preparations for the COP26 summit, due to be held in Glasgow in November.
His pledge that the virus will not stop the fight against crime comes as callous criminals exploit the pandemic to target the elderly and vulnerable in their own homes – by posing as health workers and Good Samaritans.
Several police forces have warned that thieves are stealing cash and bank cards after offering to buy groceries for isolated pensioners.
And millions of Britons are being targeted by bogus online firms offering to sell face masks and hand sanitiser. Scammers are also trying to extract personal information through emails purportedly from the World Health Organisation and the taxman.
Scotland Yard and Greater Manchester Police said they had received reports of criminals posing as NHS workers who had come to carry out Covid-19 testing. Once let in, they robbed their victims.
Action Fraud said it had been inundated with complaints about cons totalling almost £1million in recent weeks, including a medical company that lost £15,000 after it ordered a batch of face masks from a bogus online firm. Mimecast, an online security company, said it had detected more than one million scam emails every day.
Kloe Burrows, of West Midlands Police’s economic crime unit, said: ‘Times like these bring out the best and worst in people. While some will be looking out for vulnerable relatives and friends, a minority will be looking to profit from the worry caused by coronavirus.’