Essex has led the way on police assault impact statements

ESSEX Police’s senior officer team should be applauded for leading the way in giving impact statements in court cases of police assault, the force’s Federation has said.

The Federation-led move has been in place for a year, meaning Essex has been ahead of the curve in one of the tenets of the #ProtectTheProtectors agenda. 

The Police Federation of England and Wales has recently called for all senior leaders to provide impact statements as routine when officers are attacked.

Steve Taylor, Essex Police Federation Chairman, said: “One of the first things we achieved when I got into office, when we had the changes that we recently had, was picking up the assaults piece before it was badged as ‘Protect the Protectors’.

“As part of that, one of the things we pushed for was chief officer impact assessment statements when officers had been assaulted, and the job very quickly started doing that.

“We think it definitely adds value, not only in terms of the perception of cases when they do reach court, but also officers knowing and having a visible demonstration of the support that they have from chief officers.

“We’re big advocates of it and we think it’s definitely worth the effort, and we’re grateful for our chief officer team having taken up that mantle almost a year ago.”

The responsibility was originally undertaken by Assistant Chief Constable Carl O’Malley and has now been taken on by ACC Andy Prophet.

Steve added: “These statements demonstrate very visibly to the courts that these incidents happen and that their impact is felt not just by the officer, but the wider community; it’s an attack at the very heart of what it is that we try and deal with.

“They are saying officer assaults are really serious, and in no way, shape or form can they be tolerated. We can say that until we’re blue in the face, but to have chief officers make that point, eloquently, to the bench, to those in positions of power and influence when it comes to sentencing, is very valuable.”