Spat on, punched bitten and kicked ... IT’S ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR OUR POLICE OFFICERS

AN officer from West Yorkshire Police is assaulted every day.

New Home Office data shows that West Yorkshire officers reported 372 assaults against them in 2016/17 – but police chiefs fear the full total could be far higher.

All of the reported assaults resulted in some kind of injury to these officers – one per day for the entire year on average.

This was a 16% rise on the 320 reported in 2015/16.

These figures are unlikely even to be the true scale of the problem because reporting these assaults is usually voluntary and some officers won’t always do so.

This was the fifth highest of any force in Britain.

West Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Andy Battle said: “These figures indicate the risk that police officers and staff face while undertaking their duties and keeping our communities safe.

“Sadly, I know that these figures do not reflect the true extent of the problem as there is a number of assaults that go unreported. These assaults vary in nature and include officers being spat at, bitten, punched and kicked, all resulting in some form of injury.

“One assault on police is unacceptable, particularly when they are going about their duties to keep people safe. Our officers and staff work tirelessly to protect the public often putting themselves in harm’s way. It is for this reason that these figures are important to demonstrate the extent to which officers and staff are assaulted and show why we have to use safety measures including bite and spit guards, leg restraints and handcuffs.”

Across England and Wales police officers reported violent assaults 8,973 times in 2016/17.

Every force reported at least some injuries to their officers. Some have reported a massive rise in attacks while others have revealed a drop.

The Home Office estimated that there were 24,000 assaults of all kinds – violent and nonviolent – on police last year. 3 / Greater Manchester / 774 / -5.3% 4 / Hampshire / 732 / 121.1% 5 / West Yorkshire / 372 / 16.3% 6 / Kent / 367 / 9.6% 7 / Northumbria / 302 / -11.4% 8 / Cheshire / 280 / 127.6% 9 / Lancashire / 222 / -7.5% 10 / Sussex / 222 / 0.9%/ Total, all forces / 8973 / 13.5%