Police officer books shopkeeper in Edgware for drawing chalk lines on pavement to keep customers 2 metres apart

Chalk on the pavement is one of the questions that came up on my exams whilst training as a police officer at Hendon. Much to my surprise at the time chalking on the pavement technically is criminal damage, and I got the question wrong.

From this footage we can’t really judge the actions of the sergeant. He may have been walking or driving by and saw this lady spraying what looks like spray paint on the floor. He’s stopped to notify her that she shouldn’t do it and she started arguing with him. Then someone’s started filming and all they’ve got is him looking like the bad guy.

Corona virus or not I don’t see any need to be marking all over the floor like that. Everywhere I’ve been people have been more than capable of respectfully queuing and keeping their distance. If she wants to inform people she can chalk all over the front of her own shop rather than the public pavement.

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