Police scanning cars in a retail park to make sure shoppers are local

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1]

It's started.

South Wales police present in a retail/supermarket car park are scanning cars to make sure that people aren't shopping there from outside the area!

Coming soon to a supermarket near you no doubt!

@betrayedandwobbly

Wales has been using the police to check movements ever since March.

Not realtime ANPR, the old fashioned way of strapping cars and talking to the occupants

It's amazing how many of those stopped by North Wales Police and Dyfed Powys Police were driving with no insurance or were dealing drugs. It's almost as if someone who ignores one law holds the others in contempt too.

I'm on the fence about this. Normally I'm very against arbitrary extensions of police powers. However, I can see that, given what is happening to the infection rate, the government needs to do everything it can to control infection risk and I can understand that they want to try to avoid lockdown. Given the fact that our compliance with precautions has got worse and worse, I can see some logic in demonstrating that there will be real and serious consequences for not complying with the law. Johnson made it pretty clear that some heavy duty enforcement would be going on, so if people fall foul of it it's essentially their own fault.

Yes, I absolutely acknowledge and agree that much of our attitude to the rules stems from the way the government and its members and advisers have been merrily ignoring them and that they are incredibly hypocritical. I also absolutely agree that we wouldn't need these rules and regulations if the government had done its job properly in the first instance. However, we are where we are and I can't really see what alternative option the government has besides lockdown.

Well,judging by the way the supermarket shelves are rapidly emptying of toilet rolls,pasta and flour yet again,I think maybe the police forces could be spending their time more usefully by patrolling supermarkets and stopping the idiots who are panic buying umpteen packets of toilet rolls.

Lockdowns don't work. And no I am not a tinfoil hat wearer. There is only one way to come through this and thats shielding vulnerable and being sensible.

Lockdowns can help if there is a well functioning test and trace system in place to take over once lockdown gets the case numbers down enough for a well functioning test/trace to take over. This would hopefully keep numbers down until a vaccine or therapeutics are developed. If they are not by next spring then possibly time to consider having to live with it. However living with it will mean a fair few deaths and others having possibly long term health problems including previously healthy people in the younger age ranges, ages 20-50 as will take a long time to herd immunity to build and even then it is not known yet whether people may still be able to get reinfected. For that reason it’s worth holding out at least until next spring in my view.

It’s interesting I have a close friend living in a small city in Victoria, Australia. The Victorian state imposed locked down measures again at the start of August with lower cases per 100,000 then my area in England has currently and which is classed as medium risk according to the new NHS app. Many of the lockdown measures in this city in Oz were lifted last week as they have got the cases right down again and hopefully a better test and trace system now set up. So lockdown is one possible choice if combined with a good test/trace system and saying they don’t work is inaccurate.. Shielding the vulnerable is not as simple as it sounds, millions come under vulnerable and if the virus is in the community not possible to completely shield them plus questions of ethics in sequestering much of the population away. None of the possibilities in lieu of a vaccine or therapeutics is easy all with pros and cons.

Lockdowns don't work. And no I am not a tinfoil hat wearer. There is only one way to come through this and thats shielding vulnerable and being sensible

It's everyone being sensible that it is needed.

It's utterly heartless to shut away millions of people. Shielding means lockdown+ Enough people are having difficulty with the idea they might have to go indoors for 14 days, but are happy for those they perceive as 'other' to do that indefinitely. Includung children and young people.

That would be a really shitty thing for millions of people, not to mention hugely expensive (assuming you're not going to strip them of their income too)

How would this work anyway?

Wales police do this by stopping the car and talking to the occupants

XH was stopped a couple of times, as was a colleague (who was on her way to set up a mobile Covid testing centre). I thought everyone on Wales knew it was happening. It did ease off during the summer lull, but it even made the UK national news earlier in the outbreak (turning round daytrippers, keeping Wales 'closed

I expect we'll be seeing more of this sort of thing in the rest of UK if/when they start to clamp down on travel between lockdown areas and other areas (which I think couid happen schools' half terms, university end of term and at Christmas)

I live in South Wales and I really don’t have a problem with checks being done to make sure people are following the rules. What’s the point of even having the rules if no one is checking to make sure we’re following them? I actually think it’s crazy that there are areas of England that are “locked down” but people can leave or enter them for whatever reason they feel like. What’s the point of that?

They have a local lockdown. If you live outside the area you are free to pass through but not stop (apparently services on the m4 are ok).

And yes it's much stricter than England, for legitimate reasons I go in and out of Leicester all the time and was never stopped during initial lockdown or localised, even at the station I was never asked why I was travelling. I carried proof of why I could travel just in case!

We have a 'permanent' address and a 'local' address. We live at the local one. Most official paperwork lists the permanent one. The banks, DVLA, HMRC prefers this so important paperwork doesn't go astray. So our car is registered 200miles away... (But insured to the local address). It's a perfectly normal scenario for Military personnel.

Yes ANPR doesn’t catch everyone who’s breaking lockdown and it will catch a few people who it shouldn’t (who can explain their situation quickly) but it will identify 90% of relevant people very quickly.

If you accept that this sort of local lockdown is reasonable it’s a far more efficient use of police time than stopping everybody individually and making them prove their address.

And no you can’t redeploy the cops to stopping people buying toilet roll in bulk because a) that’s not illegal and b) the shortages are not almost certainly not caused by individual people with trolleys piled high with loo roll, they’re caused by everyone doing a shop thinking “do I need loo roll? Maybe not, but I’ll get a pack of 9 anyway, things are looking a bit iffy and you can’t be too careful”

I agree @AGoatAtelt I'm in Bolton we have the highest rates of infection in the UK but I can leave the town if I wish ,I'm not sure what people want ?

I'm in a lockdown area in wales, I really can't see the problem with this? It's the law that you can't enter or leave a lockdown area without a reasonable excuse - by all means disagree with the law if you like, but how can you disagree with the police enforcing the law?

@x2boys Yep there’s been uproar in South Wales because a bus of tourists from Bolton came on holiday to Porthcawl but the county went into lockdown. So they travelled on to Tenby instead. Down here, lockdown is lockdown. No swanning off on holidays.

I’m quite happy with checks. A mate is a police officer and as a PP said, a considerable number of his random stops led to uncovering other illegal activity.

Until I moved back to London, I lived in the RCT in one of the locked down areas (prior to 2020) and drove a car not registered to me. It’s not an uncommon scenario.

I think it’s good they’re being proactive, people in different places are showing whether they can abide by the restrictions with or without a heavier hand. It’s simple- stick to the rules and everyone’s happy, flout the rules and get monitored.

Most of the people I knew back then would have definitely done their own thing. It was just part of the way they lived there. It’s unfortunate that that isn’t conducive to getting everyone through this pandemic quickly and safely.

But it is already in your area! It's just just on the same infection cycle. Don't ever think you can have an area that is free of Covid.

I don't believe it. If they scan the registration, that only tells them who the registered keeper is (who isn't necessarily the same as the driver).

And if they look at where the car was registered it could be anywhere. My car was registered in Devon but I live in Hampshire. So if I am in Devon I look local but not when I am at home!

I think someone is making this up (not the op, but whoever is posting porkies on social media).

I think it’s good they’re being proactive, people in different places are showing whether they can abide by the restrictions with or without a heavier hand. It’s simple- stick to the rules and everyone’s happy, flout the rules and get monitored

Oh rubbish, it makes no difference to whether I catch the virus whether I shop 2 miles from my house or 20.

[quote Hoppyhops]@NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 I’m in S Wales and I’m sure I saw this at my local retail park yesterday. Meant to ask about it then completely forgot! Did you see it happening and was it at CRP?[/quote]
I called into Asda petrol station at CRP on the way home from work yesterday. Car registered in RCT. No issues at all. Was about 6:30pm.

@cologne4711

I think it’s good they’re being proactive, people in different places are showing whether they can abide by the restrictions with or without a heavier hand. It’s simple- stick to the rules and everyone’s happy, flout the rules and get monitored

Oh rubbish, it makes no difference to whether I catch the virus whether I shop 2 miles from my house or 20.

Makes a difference how many you might pass it on to though. ;)

Virus needs people to spread. If you limit the distance people travel it should, in theory, limit the virus’ chance of spreading.

@cologne4711

I think it’s good they’re being proactive, people in different places are showing whether they can abide by the restrictions with or without a heavier hand. It’s simple- stick to the rules and everyone’s happy, flout the rules and get monitored

Oh rubbish, it makes no difference to whether I catch the virus whether I shop 2 miles from my house or 20.

It depends on whether there is a high rate of infection 2 miles away, compared with 20 miles away in the next borough. It's not about you, it's about preventing the spread.

Our council dump ( north Wales ) has had a license plate checking camera for a few years.

I can’t get worked up about this , given the times were in.

I would say I’m not really interested in the infection rate, only the hospitalisation rate.

I work in one lockdown area and live in another lockdown area in Wales, driving between twice a day. Never been stopped, not even seen more police. Roads aren't really that much quieter either now.

We heard they were stopping people on one road the first morning of the first local lockdown here, but not on the route we go. There's a couple of road signs into Caerphilly telling you local lockdown rules apply but no reminder when you go into RCT at the same point.

I don't have a problem with the police stopping people and enforcing the law, but they don't seem to be around here.

Businesses are supposed to turn you away if they know you live out of area- unless it's for your work purposes. We had to show proof it was for our work for one business we used before they'd let us in.

So you are suggesting that Gwent Pokice are putting fake items on their Facebook page about stopping and educating drivers about the local restrictions?

Okay then. Its happening and im really glad it is.

I live in 1 of the only 2 areas not currently locked down in Gwent.
I live approx 150m from the boundary with a locked down area.
The pub at the end of my road has correctly stated that they can not serve people who have come across the boundary to have a drink in their local.
As you can imagine that went down like a lead balloon!

People are put out - but just stick to the rules. It's not the end of the world to shop in a different shop or drink in a different pub.

And yes obv there's the totally weird situation as described above, but it the majority of people just get on with it things will progress.