'This is not something they signed up for' - Commissioner praises Northants firefighters and police for coronavirus efforts

Stephen Mold, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for the county, said that emergency workers had done ‘a really great job’ in testing and distressing circumstances.

He said: “We’re in uncharted territory in terms of what is going on at the moment. The fire service has done a really great job, and they have done some really difficult things. They have actually supported the ambulance but they have also been moving bodies to the temporary mortuary to enable the hospitals to function. You’re talking about moving hundreds of bodies. To do that with the sensitivity that is needed, it’s not something a firefighter signs up for.”

Mr Mold, who has been in post since 2016 and is in position for an extra year beyond his initial tenure following the cancellation of last week’s elections, said the number of fires were actually going up despite lockdown.

He said: “Of course the tips have been closed, so we’ve had more calls during this time for bonfires in gardens that have set fire to fences. People in their garden can’t get rid of some of this stuff so they light a fire and some of those fires go up.”

The Commissioner also paid tribute to his police force, and said the coronavirus pandemic had presented some different challenges. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Different crime types have gone up, such as anti-social behaviour because neighbours at home all the time now, and others have come down. But they have also taken on the role of driving ambulances for non-emergency purposes, so they have stepped up as well.

“From a policing point of view they have had to provide enforcement. Someone else said it better than I have, but if the thought of a £60 fine is going to make you not do something that potentially killing yourself or some friends wouldn’t, then you probably need to look in the mirror and consider your priorities.

“I’ve been out a couple of times now with some teams to see what’s going on. It’s quite interesting, having access to garden and green space has actually been really quite a big difference. I’ve gone out onto the Racecourse [in Northampton] over the last couple of weeks and you can definitely feel that more and more people are moving about.”

As the Government begins to relax some of its lockdown measures tomorrow (May 13), the PCC was asked how he felt Northamptonshire residents had done in complying with the tough guidelines of the last seven weeks.

Mr Mold said: “I think the county has done very well and the compliance has been really good. To be honest, our issuing of fixed penalty notices has been quite modest compared to some other areas. In Manchester they broke up 600 parties in one weekend in lockdown, and we’ve had nothing like that even on population adjusted numbers. We’ve had a few irresponsible people and a handful of parties. But I think the people of Northamptonshire’s behaviour, when we analyse the rates at the end of all this, it will be lower as a result.”