How many incidents were recorded in April 2020 by Police Scotland of members of the public breaking the social distancing guidelines impose…

Police Scotland are publishing weekly updates on the use of coronavirus legislation, including Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued and other intervention activity. A summary of this information has been provided below. This information is drawn from Police Scotland’s ‘Coronavirus Interventions’ application, which relies on manual input from Police Officers. Due to this manual input, these figures are indicative only and should not be considered Official Police Statistics. This system currently provides the broadest picture of the differing levels of co-operation experienced by Police across Scotland.
In due course and as standard practice, the Official Statistics produced by the Scottish Government on Recorded Crime [1] and Criminal Proceedings [2] will ultimately provide users with information on both the number of crimes recorded in relation to the new powers, and the number of FPNs issued. Further updates on developments with our Official Statistics can be received by signing up to the SCOTSTAT network [3] .
(a) Warning with no fine
Between 1 April 2020 and 30 April 2020, a total of 16,608 individuals were dispersed by Police Scotland without any enforcement action being taken. This includes those dispersed when informed, those dispersed but only when instructed, and those dispersed using reasonable force. Individuals may have been dispersed more than once during this period. The majority of interactions between the police and the public are resolved without enforcement.
(b) ‘On-the-spot’ fine
Between 1 April 2020 and 30 April 2020, a total of 1,829 FPNs were issued by Police Scotland and 122 arrests were made. FPNs would not be considered ‘On-the-spot’ fines as payment is not required on-the-spot. Individuals may have been issued an FPN or arrested more than once during this period. Police Scotland have stated that “the powers being afforded to our officers will be used as a last resort and only where people are defying very clear and sensible advice which is designed to protect them from harm” [4] .
For the breakdown of these figures by police division see Table 1
Table 1: Coronavirus Legislation Intervention Activity by Police division, April 2020
Intervention Type (Number of Individuals)
Police Division
Dispersed when informed
Dispersed but only when instructed
Dispersed using reasonable force
Issued a Fixed Penalty Notice
Arrested
A – North East
692
208
12
100
10
C – Forth Valley
718
217
17
143
6
D
- Tayside
875
139
13
80
5
E – Edinburgh
960
167
12
125
12
G
- Glasgow
3,724
1,032
32
322
20
J – The Lothians & Scottish Borders
485
164
18
89
7
K – Renfrewshire & Inverclyde
561
177
10
153
9
L – Argyll & West Dunbartonshire
2,108
387
18
230
3
N – Highlands & Islands
804
143
3
112
15
P – Fife
316
44
4
33
2
Q
- Lanarkshire
786
277
15
326
18
U
- Ayrshire
964
196
11
89
8
V – Dumfries & Galloway
222
75
2
27
7
Total
13,215
3,226
167
1,829
122
Source: Coronavirus Enforcement Information to 13 May 2020, published by Police Scotland on 15th May 2020 ( https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/covid-19-policescotlandresponse/enforcement-and-response-data )
[1] https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2018-19/
[2] https://www.gov.scot/publications/criminal-proceedings-scotland-2018-19/
[3] https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/scotstat
[4] https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/covid-19-policescotlandresponse/new-police-powers?version=1