We must protect the protectors

When your job is to rush to danger to protect the public, confrontation is, quite naturally, part and parcel of the job.

The police know this when they sign up for a life in public service and they accept it with little fuss.

Such is the level of danger our bobbies on the beat are exposed to, injuries are inevitable. It has always been this way.

What is of a growing concern,however, is a culture of violence in which attacks on police are somehow considered acceptable. That since the police are paid to deal with danger, they are somehow ‘fair game’ to be attacked.

They are not the only emergency service to feel under attack.

Health service workers, firefighters and paramedics are among those who are increasingly being targeted for abuse, both physical and verbal.

But the police statistics we reveal today are particularly disturbing.

In Sunderland alone, 38 officers have been assaulted in the last 12 months.

Figures released by the Police Federation reveal that more than two million officers may have suffered unarmed physical assaults nationwide, with a further 302,000 attacked with a deadly weapon.

The death of PC Keith Palmer brought home to everyone the dangers police face in the line of duty, and the ultimate price that can be paid.

The Police Federation call for tougher sentences for those attacking emergency service workers has never been more urgent.

While it may rankle with the thugs and crooks plaguing our society, the plea for support has the backing of the public.

The police protect the public and those in high office, it’s time those in power rushed to return the favour.