myAIPMCOVID facemasks as crime facilitators
Professor Graham Farrell and Emily Sheard | Policing Insight
In this latest article from the UCL COVID-19 series, Graham Farrell and Emily Sheard from the University of Leeds discuss how the new legislation on mandatory face masks could inadvertently be aiding criminal behaviour.
The problem
On 10 July in Scotland and 24 July in England it became compulsory for individuals to wear a face covering in shops and supermarkets, in addition to on public transport.
The anonymity that facemasks provide could allow potential offenders to avoid detection by CCTV or prosecution using witness testimony. This could facilitate commercial robberies at premises such as betting shops, jewellery shops, off-licences, and takeaways – and this is the focus here.
But masks could also facilitate street robberies, shoplifting, assaults and public disorder, offenders blending in more easily at places where a facemask would previously raise suspicion. In shops, they will be able get closer to stealable property without receiving scrutiny from staff or security personnel, and other customers in facemasks will provide camouflage.
Read more
COVID facemasks as crime facilitators, Professor Graham Farrell, Policing Insight, 2020