Janet Finch-Saunders MS:...Now, South Wales Police is responding to
an average of 40 reports of potential breaches daily, and Arfon
Jones, the north Wales police and crime commissioner, has stated
publicly that now we're back to normal with traditional crime, plus
we've still got to enforce these coronavirus regulations. So, what
steps, First Minister, are you taking to assist with tackling the
two major issues being caused to enforcement authorities by
COVID-19? Mark Drakeford MS (First...Request free trial
:...Now, South Wales Police
is responding to an average of 40 reports of potential breaches
daily, and , the north
Wales police and crime commissioner, has stated
publicly that now we're back to normal with traditional crime, plus
we've still got to enforce these coronavirus regulations. So, what
steps, First Minister, are you taking to assist with tackling the
two major issues being caused to enforcement authorities by
COVID-19?
(First Minister of Wales): Llywydd, I would not
myself describe the regulations that are there to keep us all safe
as a burden. They are a necessary protection, which means that
people's lives in Wales are safer than they would be without the
regulations. I recognise what the police and crime
commissioner for north Wales has said, that levels of
general crime were suppressed back in March and April, but they
have recovered—if that's the right word—to the sorts of levels that
were being seen earlier in the year. And now our police forces are
working very hard indeed to make sure both that they deal with
those matters, and that they also are able to assist in the vital
business of enforcing coronavirus restrictions and regulations here
in Wales. I fully support the approach that our police forces have
taken throughout the pandemic—that you begin always by making sure
that people are aware of the rules, that you educate, you advise,
you encourage, but, when that runs out and people deliberately and
knowingly break the laws that are there to protect us all, then
enforcement action must be taken. And that is the approach that our
police forces are taking, and they have the full support of the
Welsh Government in doing so.
