Police use of force surged 12.5% at height of lockdown despite fall in crime
Human rights group Liberty warns emergency Covid-19 powers have ‘exacerbated unfair, excessive and discriminatory policing’

by Bethany Rielly
POLICE use of force surged by 12.5 per cent during the height of the lockdown compared to the previous three months despite a fall in crime, a civil liberties group has said.
Campaigners have said that the “alarming” surge in police use of force is the result of emergency Covid-19 powers which they claim have “exacerbated unfair, excessive and discriminatory policing.”
Liberty Investigates sent freedom of information requests to 32 constabularies.
More from this author

In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account

On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara