72 attacks on police every day after recorded cases surge 34% in 5 years
THERE are 72 attacks on police officers every day, figures reveal.
Home Office data from all 44 forces in England and Wales found a total of 26,295 constables were assaulted on duty between April 2017 and April this year.
That was up 34% on 2013, when 19,670 officers were attacked while in uniform – and a rise of 10% on last year, from 24,000. The Met had the largest number of cases with 3,975, with West Yorkshire second on 1,366 followed by Hampshire (1,159), Kent (1,112) and Greater Manchester (1,031).
But one Met officer warned: “Most of us don’t report minor assaults, so the figures will be far higher. There are less and less officers to deal with crime, so when we turn up we are often by ourselves. The statistics show one officer is assaulted every 20 minutes – that’s just not acceptable.” Speaking to Police Federation mag Police recently, John Apter, the new chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said sentences needed to be tougher for those convicted of assaulting officers.