Up to a fifth of Avon and Somerset’s police force could be off work at any one time because of coronavirus, a report warns.

It says demand will escalate if the virus reaches epidemic levels and the police may need to enforce “emergency measures”.

The risk is that the force will be unable to keep people safe or bring offenders to justice.

Assistant Chief Constable, Nikki Watson said Avon and Somerset Police is not anticipating a worst-case scenario but has planned for it, as the public would expect.

The report to a police audit committee meeting on March 19th says: “At the time of writing, the UK remains at the containment stage of response, although the Government has acknowledged the virus will spread in a significant way and anticipate that 20 per cent of the workforce could be off work at any one time.

“Additional demand may also arise from public order incidents and the potential need to enforce emergency measures, if put in place. With these two factors combined, the service the police can deliver is going to be restricted.

“The impact will not be limited to policing – other partners, criminal justice agencies and victim support services will also suffer reduced levels of service.”

The report to the audit committee says the police “need to take greater levels of precaution because of the critical nature of their work”, and there could be an impact on the recruitment of new officers.

The Police and Crime Commissioner Election was due to be held on May 7th – the same day as Bristol’s City Council and Mayoral Elections – but the Government announced that Local Elections would be delayed by a year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Addressing this as a possible scenario, the report says Avon and Somerset’s current, PCC, Sue Mountstevens would remain in office until then.

Stephen Sumner, LDRS