Man ‘legally refused to give his name’ on way to work forced into police car

A man was threatened with arrest by a West Mercia police officer after he “legally” refused to give his name whilst walking to work.

The copper who also refused to abide by the social distancing guidelines then called the man and “idiot” and then threatened him with “you’re going to get locked up.”

This outrageous incident has sparked thousands of Retweets with quotes by many angry members of the public, including a law firm.

The incident which has been labelled as “straight harassment” and a “abuse of power” took place on Wednesday in Solihull, West Midlands.

The cop who can be clearly seen pulled up his marked police car and asked him “what you up to?” then the man said he is on his way to work.

The man tells the “aggressive” copper that he lives nearby and is on his way to work, which turned out to be true.

The cop asks him is name, and the man says “don’t worry about that” but the copper insists as allegedly he needs to know in order to “enforce legislation,” apparently.

The man then quite correctly tells the copper that he does not need to know as he “hasn’t committed an offence.”

The cop asks him does he definitely live in the area, after already being told by the man what street he lives on, which is “around the corner.”

My boy on his way to work this morning straight harassment and abuse of power @WMerciaPolice pic.twitter.com/XEFZY9yJyI

— C (@C1Haywood) January 27, 2021

The man points out to the cop does he know if the other people at the train station live nearby? The cop said, “Well that’s my job isn’t it? At the moment I’m interested in you.”

The man asks the copper to turn on his bodycam, then threatens him with, “we’ll be dealing with this in a different manner now.”

The copper then gets out of his car and tells him, ‘Under coronavirus legalisation, you have to provide me with some details otherwise you’re going to be arrested.’

The copper then gets too close to the man and is asked to “back up” in an attempt to maintain social distancing.

Then the “arrogant” copper accuses the man of “telling lies” and said, “I don’t know you live round here. You’re arguing with me, that gives me reasonable suspicion that you’re telling me lies.”

Then in a very un-polite manner the copper added, “We’re the police, we’re not just someone, you idiot.”

Then the copper grabs hold of the man pulls him to the police car and said, “Sit in there, we’ll see what you’ll say at the station then.

You’re going to be late for work.”

Under the Coronavirus Law, police can arrest a person if, and only if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the person has committed an offence.

But the police must encourage any individual to go home in the first instance, before they should attempt any other method of enforcement.

A complaint has been made which is now being investigated by the Professional Standards Department.

According to Levins Solicitors, a police officer might stop you and ask:

What your name is?

What you’re doing in the area?

Where are you going?

Levins said in a tweet, “You don’t have to stop or answer any questions. If you don’t and there’s no other reason to suspect you, then this along can’t be used as a reason to search or arrest you.”

However these rules are for England and will be different in Scotland.