ESSEX Police Officers are still being spat and coughed on as they try and protect the public during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Four officers were spat at recently and were put under additional stress over the uncertainty of the risks to them around self-isolate, Essex Police Federation said.<\/p>\n
The despicable act and other assaults on officers and emergency service workers have emerged as the most common COVID-19 related crime during the lockdowns, new stats show.<\/p>\n
Officers across England and Wales have faced nearly 500 incidents of being spat at and coughed on with many protagonists claiming they have the deadly disease.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s left officers terrified of picking up the virus and bringing it back to infect their families and loved ones.<\/p>\n
The national picture is mirrored in Essex, Federation Chair Laura Heggie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust this weekend we have four officers who were spat at several times which caused big issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe male involved was saying he had COVID and there were some real knock-on effects from that.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the officers lives with their parents, who are extremely vulnerable.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, alternative accommodation had to be considered which although protecting their parents would isolate them completely, things like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother officer, who was involved in the same incident was isolating from the rest of their family at home, because they\u2019re worried that they might pass it on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the incident happened, we didn\u2019t know if the person arrested was COVID-19 positive and we understand since thankfully that they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident has highlighted the very real threat officers face from the disgusting act every day on the front line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous threat and it\u2019s the knock-on effect, the consequences that threat has to all officers,\u201d Laura said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not even just the officers that are involved; other colleagues were nervous around them even though the person who spat wasn\u2019t positive because how sure can we be that they haven\u2019t caught anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Stricter sentences have been made available to magistrates and judges to deal with the issue, something which Laura hopes will remain in place post pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing sentencing come in, but I am concerned that as time is going on, that might start to drop off, as people start to become more lenient.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s there at the moment, and it\u2019s been relatively good in Essex.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"