British police officers like their alcoholic beverages and enjoy their cigarettes like many folks. Some more than others to be sure. No doubt, plenty officers stop off at the shops after their shifts during UK’s enforced lockdown to ensure replenishing dwindled supplies of booze and smokes before heading home to hole up and “isolate” till their next stint.
Store managers may even secure certain stock of goodies for their favourite “local heroes”, so they never go without their favoured “non-essentials“, as police officers insist on yammering at forcibly stopped civilians going to the shops for cigarettes and/or alcohol.
To be sure, no one needs any liquoring up during this enforced lockdown, because not everyone is a ‘happy drunk’, and, unarguably, smoking is unhealthy. However, that is no one’s business and legally not the point, as the stores and shops, even grocery chains, selling these items are on the government list of permitted businesses to be open for consumers to legally purchase alcohol and cigarettes.
And, no matter how any one person feels about this issue, and though our purchasing power is presently limited in fulfilling some of our whims, no one authority is empowered to interfere with a person’s personal and legally acquired shopping. Not even the British police.
Clearly British police are exploiting their “police powers” in this crisis, which were already far too broad and intrusive. And currently it’s apparent they’re arbitrarily inventing their own laws and making up their own rules as they go along. That will not do.
Police forces are deliberately hyping up specific wording of Tory government’s lockdown guidelines out of context, overreaching their allocated police powers, ie:
Staying at home
You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:
shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household.
any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home.
Every person in the UK must comply with these new measures, which came into effect on Monday 23 March. The relevant authorities, including the police, have been given the powers to enforce them – including through fines and dispersing gatherings.
Police forces throughout the United Kingdom are randomly stopping any and all citizens and residents demanding to know their business, which unfortunately they are empowered to do under their newly assigned police powers within the Tories’ sweeping “executive powers”.
The annoying thing is that the police are not empowered to demand anyone’s shopping specifics, or we may as well hand them our grocery lists. Seriously, why would anyone volunteer that they’re out shopping for beer and/or cigarettes to the police in our present circumstances? It’s any legally adult’s legal right but no one’s business.
As it is, the police are stupidly and unnecessarily risking “social contact”, when the whole purpose of this awful lockdown is “social distancing”. Like at minimum 2 meters or six feet. Impossible, when officers stand quite close when forcing drivers to open their car windows after they’re stopped.
It would hardly be shocking if police officers more than others spread COVID-19 due to their insistence to intimidate and harass the public.
The working public’s taxes pay the salaries of all local authorities, including police forces, and all government bodies and officials, so it is very frustrating to see police officers wasting their time staking out corner shops and convenience stores, not to catch thieves but to hassle and threaten law-abiding civilians over their purchases.
It’s absolutely ludicrous, demeaning and disrespectful towards all of us. The abuse of UK’s police powers is synonymous to other countries, and equally authoritarian to totalitarian regimes, which definitely does not help make it any more acceptable.
Boris Johnson and his Tory government need to be crystal clear with how their lockdown guidelines are intentionally abused by British police officers entrusted to enforce and ensure “social distancing”, not dictate our grocery and shop purchases.
We had no choice in capitulating our civil liberties and human rights thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, however the Tories should expect that if they continue to allow police power abuse, there is little doubt the people won’t stay compliant like docile sheeple for extended periods of lockdown.
Hardly surprising Italy’s lockdown is in the process of breaking down due to hunger, financial worries, horrific staggering death toll and growing PTSD, in no small part due to enforced “social distancing”, unable to properly mourn the deaths of loved ones, much less have proper funerals, yet little to no government help and support.
HUMANS 4 HUMAN RIGHTS 