Police boss will give officers spit hoods for their protection

Kent Police officers are to be provided with spit hoods to protect them when dealing with the most violent criminals.

Kent Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said he had changed his mind over the issue because he was concerned officers were increasingly at risk of being injured or infected.

He told a meeting on Wednesday that he had previously been circumspect about their use but had been persuaded that they could help his officers.

Mr Pughsley said the design had improved and they no longer resembled something that might have been used at Guantanamo Bay and were more “humane”.

He said: “I think our officers will use them in the right time and place. My officers and staff need them on the streets to protect them from the most violent criminals, who are increasingly biting and spitting at officers.

“I was against them as they looked like something from Guantanamo Bay but the design has changed and for want of a better word are more ‘humane’.”

He said he had numerous examples of incidents in which officers had been infected as a result of being bitten and had then been forced to take weeks and sometimes months to recover.

Asked by crime commissioner Matthew Scott if officers supported the idea, he said: “I think they are pleased the force has given them a piece of kit that will help protect them.”

The use of spit hoods has been controversial with criticism that they are potentially dangerous to suspects and do not, as some claim, guard against Hepatitis C and HIV, which cannot be transmitted in saliva.

The Hepatitis C Trust and the National Aids Trust fear chief constables risk stigmatising those affected by justifying spit hood use on false grounds.

The Independent Police Com- plaints Commission made a number of recommendations in 2009, following the death of a man in Cambridgeshire police custody wearing a spit hood.

And director of human rights organisation Liberty, Martha Spurrier, recorded her objection to their use, citing an 11-year-old disabled girl who was restrained and made to wear a spit hood.

Spit hoods are made of mesh fabric and are generally used when dealing with suspects in custody or moving them to a different location.