PCs are being been ordered to hand out more fines to Covidiots during the third national lockdown.
The Mirror joined a Covid patrol this week and saw one maskless shopper involved in an angry confrontation with officers.
The man was arguing with staff at a butcher’s shop when he reacted to an intervention from PC Jack Cox.
He was sent on his way by the Op Chaba team, who are coming down more heavily on ‘Covidiots’ during the third national lockdown.
PC Cox, 23, explains: “We’ve been told by the higher ranks “enough is enough” and we’ve got to be enforcing the rules.”
Foot patrol partner PC Marcus Lawler, 45, said they are now more likely to ‘Enforce’, than ‘Engage, Explain or Encourage’.
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He added: “We’ve all been in this for nearly 12 months now so the role of educating people has gone.
“We are treating every incident individually but at this stage the pandemic we shouldn’t be explaining the rules.
“Now it’s all about keeping people out of hospital and saving lives - one transmission can kill.”
The Mirror joined PCs Cox and Lawler as they carried out ten hours of foot patrols across Bedfordshire on Thursday.
Figures show Beds Police have ramped up enforcement over the last month with 201 fixed penalty notices issued since the start of January.
This includes a £10,000 fine for the organisers of a New Year’s Eve party attended by 50 people.
A man was also ordered to pay the same sum last week for allowing 150 mourners to attend a funeral.
This sharp rise in fines has been mirrored across the country, with 42,000 issued in England and Wales between 27 March and 17 January.
The total represents a huge rise from 32,000 in late December.
Both officers have seen the impact of Covid first hand - with members of their own teams and units badly affected by the virus.
PC Lawler, who has spent 18 years in the force, said: “One of my mates in firearms had it and it hit him really bad.
“He felt like he had been ‘punched all over’ and at first he couldn’t even climb the stairs.
“He’s on restricted duties now because he can’t pass the fitness tests he needs to do his job.
“He’s in his early 30s so it’s not just about whether you are fit or young or old.”
PC Cox added: “One of the older members of our team became quite seriously ill after catching coronavirus.
“It knocked him for six - I would imagine he got it from the job.”
Both PCs say the threat of catching Covid has added another layer of danger to their roles.
Four days ago PC Cox handcuffed a burglary suspect who threatened to infect him with the virus.
The main claimed he was ‘positive’ before adding: “I will cough at you, I will cough on you.”
PC Cox said: “These sorts of people don’t care if they kill you, or if they kill your family.
“Unfortunately it’s part of the job now.”
Their Covid-19 patrol target ‘hotspots’ identified by data from previous rule breaches.
This intel led the officers to a secluded park in Biggleswade, Beds.
They approached a young man smoking at a wooden table while reading self-help book ‘The Secret’.
After being advised about the Covid rules he told them “This is the best of a bad situation, I just came to read a book”.
The man, who had no previous rule breaches logged under his name, escaped without a fine.
PCs Cox and Lawler say when interpreting the rules, widely criticised for being ‘too vague’, they take every case on its own merits.
PC Cox sympathises with officers from Derbyshire Police who wrongly fined two women who met for a walk with coffees five miles from home.
He added: “The rules are the rules but if people are giving a genuine reason then I’d say ‘use your head”.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to be a human, be a person and forget the kit.”
