GET TOUGH ON COP ASSAULTS

IN 2012, Police Minister Jack Dempsey doubled the maximum penalty for serious assault on officers from seven to 14 years because too many cops were getting bashed by cowardly thugs.

It is clearly not tough enough because punch-drunk grubs are still not getting the message.

The last figures published show about 165 locally stationed officers are assaulted every year. That is one every two days.

Both the Police Union and State Opposition have had enough of frontline officers being bashed and called for mandatory sentences for anyone who lays a finger on them.

“Mandatory custodial sentences for those who assault police and emergency services workers is the only answer,” Police Union boss Ian Leavers told the Bulletin this month.

“Governments and the courts have tried everything else and nothing has worked. We see the courts repeatedly fail over and over again to meet community expectations when they either grant bail or hand out tiny sentences that are simply slaps on the wrist.”

Two cases are before the courts and both alleged offenders deserve to go through the justice system before total judgment. However, if found guilty for assaulting an officer, they should be jailed.

Modern life on the Gold Coast is no picnic for police. Louts, drug addicts, dangerous drivers, drunks and violent men in domestic circumstances can make life hell for officers, who, for little pay, continue to be the gatekeepers in keeping society safe.

Offenders are still contemptuous of the courts and police. We know this from the demeanour, both inside and outside courts, of people who are facing assault, drug, robbery and drink-driving charges.

They often leave courts smiling or laughing, confident in the knowledge that, with the help of lawyers, they have only suffered a slap on their wrists.

Our police are not punching bags. They deserve our unqualified support.

Until the justice system lives up to the community’s expectations and shows our officers are sacrosanct, little will change.

They are the men and women in blue. They shouldn’t be that colour themselves because of mindless idiots chasing a cheap shot.