Officer assaulted every 27 minutes – how safe do you feel?

A POLICE officer somewhere in the UK is assaulted by a member of the public every 27 minutes.

More than 19,600 police officers in 44 United Kingdom police forces were assaulted in the last financial year. This adds up to 54 officers every day. In Essex Police the statistics are recorded between October and September. Between October 2012 and March this year, there were 332 officers attacked.

In the last full year of stats, 722 officers were assaulted between October 2011 and September 2012. This compares to 814 the previous year.

“Why should we go to work and get assaulted?” says Karen Stephens, speaking on behalf of the Police Federation of England and Wales.

“The majority of people joined the job because they want to help people and put baddies away. Not to get assaulted.”

Why does she think officers are being targeted at such alarming rates? “There is a lack of officers on the streets,” she stated. “The ones that are there are single crewed. If someone is turning up to a fight and they are going on their own then the people who are fighting generally turn on the police officer… and when there is only one of you, that is not a good situation to be in. If you are double crewed, at least there is somebody there to cover your back.”

Mark Smith, chairman of Essex Police Federation, said a wider roll out of Taser in the force might be a tactical option to keep officers safe – particularly with many being single crewed.

He added: “Taser will help keeping officers safe. Especially when more and more officers are single crewed with back up so far away.”

Across England and Wales, the Met had the largest number of officer assaults in the past financial year with 1,493. Greater Manchester Police was next with 802 and then Thames Valley Police with 560.

Given the size of its force – less than 2,000 officers – Hertfordshire had a high amount of assaults with 451 in the last financial year.

“Attacks on police officers are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said a spokesman for the Home Office. “Officers do a difficult job protecting our communities and keeping crime down so it is right that we have laws in place to punish those who try to do them harm.”

A spokeswoman for ACPO said: “The safety of police officers and staff is a critical concern for all chief officers. The job of a police officer involves risk and we know that many of our people show incredible courage and dedication in placing themselves at risk of harm in discharging their duties.

“Officer training and equipment is always developing and improving and it can help police officers risk assess situations and respond effectively.”