Officers being ‘spat at and and covered with blood’

ESSEX Police officers face being spat at, punched, and in one case having blood thrown over them as the number of assaults on police increases.

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh has publicised injuries to five officers over the course of one weekend, tweeting: “Busy weekend for Essex. Sadly five of my officers injured – driven at, bitten, assaulted and spat at. They walk towards the danger…Proud.”

And Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation says the problem is getting worse – with one officer shot at last weekend just days after the shooting of a Metropolitan Police officer in London.

He said: “We’ve had other police officers assaulted over the last weekend in one form or another, whether that is being punched; or we’ve had officers being spat at and it’s gone in their mouths, blood being thrown over officers.

“It’s worrying. There is an increase and we need to find out why. Is it that people maybe are going to notice that there aren’t police officers around? Is that a reason that people are feeling comfortable doing this because they know that police officers aren’t around? Or is it just the mindset of certain individuals has changed in society?”

Mr Smith said the federation is working to build up an accurate picture of the number of assaults on its officers – including asking officers to report all assaults and whether or not they are armed with Taser.

“We’re asking officers to tell us if they’ve requested a Taser and they haven’t been able to get one, or if a Taser would have helped in a certain situation so we can collate evidence to take back to the force,” he explained.

“Taser won’t solve everything but if that piece of personal protective equipment helps us stop one assault then it’s worthwhile.”

Mr Smith praised the professionalism of Essex officers in the face of assaults, but said it was a “worrying” time for police.

He said: “They deal with it as always – professionally. We do our job. We carry on doing our job against everything that’s thrown at us but of course it’s getting harder and harder.

“An individual may be in a situation where there would have been two or three people. If someone wanted to resist arrest, three of you can restrain them but with one person that now becomes the police officer protecting themselves. It’s very worrying for officers out there.

“The people who put themselves in the way of danger should be protected by their government. They’re protecting the public, which is of course the government’s primary role and the police are doing it on their behalf.

“The police should be backed by the government, not attacked constantly by the government in one way or another.

“Officers feel let down by MPs. They feel let down that they’re not being supported and getting the funding they need. They’re feeling let down because they don’t feel that they’ve got the back-up and the support of other officers because they’re not there.

“There’s nothing worse than hearing an officer asking for help and you can’t get there to help.”