News / avon and somerset police
Rising tide of violence against police officers
Police officers on our streets are being assaulted more frequently than ever, according to the elected head of Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
The force’s police and crime commissioner, Sue Mountstevens, says cops are “almost anticipating” being attacked “every single day” because of the rising tide of violence against them.
Speaking emotively at a meeting of the police and crime panel, she said the assaults were having an impact not just on the officers but their partners and children as well.
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Mountstevens said: “One of the issues that really worries me is the increase of police assaults where a number of officers on a daily basis are being spat at, headbutted and kicked, and that’s not acceptable.
“That’s something they’re almost anticipating every single day.
“That’s bound to affect the way that you feel about yourself.
“I spoke to a PCSO who had been spat at and was having to undergo further tests, and it might be months before she finds out if she’s been infected.
“How do you explain that to your kids?
“When you come back from work, how do you explain to your family that you went to work and came back with a black eye?
“I know it has affected families. It’s bound to affect not only the individual but their family as well.”
She told last week’s meeting at a recent graduation of new officers, relatives asked her how she could keep their loved ones safe on the beat.
“These are people who day in and day out are being assaulted on a far more regular basis now than they have ever been,” she added.
Figures released last year showed attacks on Avon and Somerset police have gone up over the past decade, with more than three attacks every week on average.
Crime statistics revealed there were 185 assaults on officers in 2017/18, with 60 of those resulting in injury.
It was the first time figures were compiled for the number of attacks causing injuries to police.
Previously they were recorded under the general umbrella of violence with injury.
Although this means it is not possible to compare the total number of assaults on officers with previous years, we do know that the 125 attacks without injury in 2017/18 rose from 116 the previous year and is more than double the 55 recorded in 2007/08.
This bucks the national trend which saw a drop in the number of officers assaulted, from 20,384 a decade earlier to 18,114 in 2017/18.
Avon and Somerset did, however, mirror the increase across England and Wales for the two most recent years, with attacks rising by 1,578 from 2016/17 when they stood at 16,536.
Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol
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