“Spit hoods should be on belt of every Essex Police officer”

SPIT hoods should be “on the belt of every police officer in Essex and in every custody suite”, the new Chairman of Essex Police Federation has said.

Steve Taylor, Chairman Elect of Essex Police Federation, said that speaking from experience, he would rather be hit in the face than spat at.

He added that in the last 12 months, 30 police officers have been spat at in Essex.

“I want to see spit hoods rolled out. I think it’s a valuable piece of personal protective equipment,” said Steve.

He said: “Sixteen years I’ve served on the streets in uniform, as a constable and a sergeant, and during that time, I’ve been spat at during, before and after the arrest of a suspect. As have many of my colleagues. It is very, very unpleasant.

“I don’t think I am alone in saying that I’d rather take a punch to the face than have someone spit at me.”

Police officers who are spat at face weeks of uncertainty and medical testing to see if they have been infected.

Steve added: “If some of that spit gets into the eye or the nose or the mouth, there is a danger of transmission of contagious disease. It is not knowing until that person is checked, until colleagues go through a course of preventative medication and blood tests to rule out the transmission of anything, there’s a period of concern and fear not only for the officer but also for their family.

“We are policed by consent in our country and it makes us one of the finest police forces in the world, in my humble view, and one of the main tenets of that policing by consent is that the public are the police, and the police are the public.

“All police officers are is members of the public who are employed full-time to keep the peace and to protect the people and their property. Therefore, is it acceptable for you to be spat at in the street? No, it most certainly is not, therefore why do people think it is acceptable for a police officer to be spat at?”