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New Years Eve in Birmingham and the impact of COVID level 4 restrictions are all too apparent.
Occasional fireworks and a rainbow of lasers light up the sky and optimistic taxi drivers line up in rows in the city center.
But the bars are closed, the restaurants have their shutters closed, and the clubs are quiet. Only take-out meals are open, your customers walking home with familiar white plastic bags through the eerily quiet streets.
On any other New Year’s Eve, these same streets would be packed with people. Downtown would entertain tens of thousands of partygoers. Bars and restaurants take hundreds of thousands of pounds on one of their busiest nights of the year.
And bubbles would only be mentioned when talking about champagne.
But not in 2020.
Level 4 means “stay at home”. No one can meet other people inside unless they live with them or are part of a bubble of support.
That means any celebration should be small and private.
If someone breaks the rules, they can be fined, and the West Midlands Police, like forces across the country, are tasked with enforcing the restrictions.
Inspector Richard Cox is the Bronze Commander for the evening and coordinates about a hundred officers. Many of them are part of the Operational Support Unit, or OSU, trained to deal with incidents of public order, house searches and soccer matches.
Birmingham is under strict Level 4 coronavirus measures
“Our main goal is to use the four E’s that have been designed in response to the pandemic,” he says.
“First to interact with the public, then to explain the rules, to educate people on how they should behave, and only finally to enforce the legislation with fines.”
We’re on patrol with PC Dave Grossett.
Closing parties may not have been what he asked for, but he knows it’s an important job as the country continues to see increasingly high infection rates.
“Nobody joins the police to keep families apart, we prefer to bring people together,” he says.
“But these are very difficult times, and we know that the rules are not there to victimize people, they are there to protect the most vulnerable.”
Some people break the Tier 4 rules in Birmingham this New Years Eve
Within minutes of leaving the police station, the radio is chattering away with information about various places where restrictions are potentially being violated.
Each incident, related to COVID or not, is assigned a “P” number from one to nine to indicate the severity of the violation. P1 is the highest level and requires assistance within 15 minutes.
The first call we made is classified as P3, with information to police suggesting a gathering of more than 30 people in the garden of a property in Tividale, near Dudley.
The police attended and verified the reported meetings, before dispersing the people who did not follow the rules.
We arrived at the same time as another team of four officers, only to find that the group had already been dispersed by the Community Support Officers, with no action being taken.
The digital performance record is constantly updated with incidents: a pub in West Bromwich where lights and music have been reported; 12 people celebrating in the front garden and on the street in front of a house in Solihull; a party at a house in the city center of Birmingham that has been denounced by several neighbors; a group of men making a barbecue inside an industrial warehouse.
By 10 pm more than 100 have been registered. Most are small house parties that quickly disperse. Some are legitimate meetings. Some have been falsely or maliciously reported. But all still need to be cared for and controlled.
We head to the city center to follow reports that a group of 40 to 50 young people has gathered.
They soon disperse, and a group of stragglers, some in sequined party dresses that don’t cope with freezing temperatures, are given police masks before making use of one of the taxis whose optimism from the driver has paid off.
It is unclear if they were heading to or from a party. The next call suggests it was the first.
Arriving at a nearby apartment block, we meet a dozen or more officers attending a party of at least 35 young people.
Names, ages and addresses are taken, some are given more easily than others, then the youth are given dispersal notices and sent home. Their ages will determine whether or not they will receive fixed penalty notices in the coming days.
Nearly 300 incidents were reported before midnight
As we continue to drive through residential streets, it seems that the vast majority of people are sticking to the rules.
But nearly 300 incidents reported at midnight suggest that not everyone was prepared to observe the restrictions.
Some don’t believe in compliance, others don’t believe in COVID. Some simply believe that they will get away with it.
All of them, however, have chosen to behave in a way that, according to health professionals, could ultimately cost lives.
