The harms of police frisking in times of a pandemic

The lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) among health-care workers in the UK has been an integral part of the debate on the UK Government's failure in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Similar to the close contact that is expected between patients and health-care staff, which could put both at risk of transmissible disease in the absence of appropriate measures, members of the public can also come in close contact with police staff during the process of frisking. The chances of being stopped and frisked by the police are dramatically (up to 10 fold) increased for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals2 in the UK who are also disproportionately affected by the risks of COVID-19.