Calls for tougher sentences after 40% rise in Police attacks in West Yorkshire
There are calls for stricter punishments against people who attack Police following a 40% rise in assaults.
There are calls for stricter punishments against people who attack Police following a 40% rise in assaults.
That's the warning from Nick Smart, the chair of West Yorkshire Police Federation.
Latest figures claim there has been 23,000 assaults against officers across the country.
In West Yorkshire Police, around four officers are being assaulted every single day.
We're now being warned that if it continues like this, there will be roughly 1,400 reported assaults for the year, a 40% increase on last year.
However, Nick Smart believes this number could be just the tip of the iceberg. He says: "There need to be tangible outcomes in terms of funding for increased officer numbers, better PPE, extra support from the CPS and courts, and a change in assault legislation and sentencing guidelines to act as a deterrent and put us back on the right path.
"We have become society’s punchbags.
"We are increasingly demonised and seen as legitimate targets for some. The lack of an effective deterrent from the courts, less officers, more single crewing equals more vulnerability for those wearing the uniform.
"Anyone who thinks the current status quo is working is simply not a credible voice on this subject. However, I and others are lobbying for something that should be a given.
"We should not have to be pleading that police officers should be given the full support of the law when they are assaulted. That the law should act as a deterrent. And that officers should be looked after as a victim of crime, like everyone else. It’s a national disgrace.
"Every single day it is by fortuitous circumstances that when officers are deliberately attacked they are not killed. Sadly I fear it is only a matter of time before one officer is killed."