Blacks and Asians more likely to have had Covid fines, new figures show

Blacks and Asians were more likely than whites to receive fines for breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules, according to new figures.

Human rights organization Liberty said the data, which showed the Blacks were more than twice as likely to be fined as people of white background, evidence that the government prioritizes criminalization over public health and biases within the police force.

Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request from Radar to the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) shows the forces in England and Pa ys of wales issued 98,038 fixed penalty notices for breaches of coronavirus regulations between march 2020 and january 2022, where ethnicity was stated.

Of these, around 74,000 involved white people, which according to the latest population estimates equates to a rate of around 15.3 fines per 10,000 white people.

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Black people received about 7,400 fines, which equates to a rate of 39.7, meaning they were 2.6 times more likely to be fined.

Liberty said powers given to police during the pandemic were too broad and resulted in "rough policing" and exposed "symptomatic" biases.

Jodie Beck, head of organization's policies and campaigns, said, "By prioritizing criminalization over public health, the government has laid the groundwork for maintaining law and order." re overzealous who has fallen hardest, and most unfairly, on people of color.

"The response to the pandemic exposes pre-existing inequalities in how some communities are over-policed .

She added that the government...