Recommendation 4

We welcome the swift clarifications and apologies from forces on social media about cases where the police have got things wrong. Forces need to ensure that there are proper checks in place to ensure errors that are not captured on social media are also corrected. The early evidence and figures shared with us from some forces suggest that the overall police response has been proportionate. Some of the challenges for the police have arisen due to the divergence between the regulations and the different statements from Government. The Department for Health and Social Care and the Home Office need to ensure that where there is divergence between regulations and messages coming from central Government (for example over shopping for non- essential goods) they continue to provide swift clarity for the public as well as the police; otherwise the police will be left in a difficult position.