Coast cops turned into punch bags
STATS
ASSAULTS on police across the Gold Coast are on the rise, with two officers attacked on average every week.
In January alone, two cops suffered broken noses in assaults, another was bashed on the side of the M1, and a police car was rammed allegedly by a man who wanted to be deported to Iran.
There have been increases in more violent offences of assault occasioning bodily harm and serious assault.
In the past year alone 116 officers were bashed, with police charging 25 people with assault occasioning bod- ily harm, 36 with serious assault, 52 with assault and three with common assault, up on the previous year.
Acting Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon said officers did not go on patrol expecting to become punching bags.
“You could argue that assaults have gone up and they’re on the more serious side,” he said.
“We are out there doing our job and we shouldn’t be the punching bags for people who decide for some reason to assault one of us.
“We certainly didn’t join this job to get assaulted, although there wouldn’t be too many operational police that haven’t been assaulted or won’t be assaulted in their career. We understand the nature of policing, we will be Offences .......................... 106 Assault occasioning bodily harm ....................... 20 Serious assault .................... 31 Assault under the police powers and responsibilities act ............ 50 Common assault .................. 5
Offences ........................... 116 Assault occasioning bodily harm ........................ 25 Serious assault ................... 36 Assault under the police powers and responsibilities act ............. 52 Common assault .................. 3 TONY COCHRANE involved in some instances of violence, we understand that.
“We are trained to try to limit that, but when you see some of these unprovoked assaults on us, completely out of the blue, we shouldn’t be the punching bags for these people who for whatever reasons, whether it’s over consumption of legal or illegal drugs, alcohol or because they’ve got a mental health illness, think it’s OK to assault police.”
Supt Hanlon said he could think of four serious assaults on police in just over a month.
“On December 13 in Ormeau, we will allege we had a person who became violent when paramedics were trying to assist him, police responded, he was put in handcuffs and he spat on one of the officers,” he said.
“On New Year’s Day we had two officers walking through the mall and it will be alleged a male just walked up and elbowed one of the officers, breaking his nose, completely unprovoked.
“On January 12 we had a senior constable assaulted following a crash on the M1. Luckily for her, a couple of good Samaritans came along and assisted the officer.
“Then on January 18, again on the highway, an officer pulled over two cars, both drivers were tested and we will allege went positive for drink driving, and one of the male passengers decided to punch him in the nose and break it.”
Officers were trained to deal with violent people, but could not prepare for random punches.
“We get training to try to identify potential instances of violence, but people restrained in the back of an ambulance and spitting on us, that’s out of the blue,’’ he said.
“The guy in the mall is out of the blue.”