Rise in 'completely unacceptable' assaults against Wiltshire Police officers during pandemic
According to the force, abuse is NOT "just part of the job"
Last updated 27th Jan 2021
The number of Wiltshire Police's frontline workers facing abuse whilst on duty has risen over recent months.
Between July and December last year, 143 assaults were recorded on officers and staff.
The force claims that 44% of those resulted in injury.
Things aren't getting better either, with five assaults against officers already taking place in 2021.
The government announced a law change in September 2020, meaning anyone caught assaulting emergency workers now faces tougher sentences of up to two years in jail.
Deputy Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, Paul Mills, said:
"Whilst we continue to be grateful for the ongoing support from the public, it is saddening to see that a minority of the public continue to believe it is acceptable to assault our officers and staff in the course of their duties.
"Our staff are normal members of our communities, who have families and the same concerns that we all have as we look to combat the virus - being assaulted on duty - either physically or verbally - is not just 'part of the job' and is completely unacceptable.
"We will not tolerate assaults upon our officers and staff or other emergency services workers and will, with the support of the courts, robustly bring to justice those who assault the protectors of our communities".
MORE COVID FINES ISSUED IN WILTSHIRE
According to the force, it's also had to tackle more incidents for COVID-19 lockdown breaches:
Between Monday 18 and Sunday 24 January, Wiltshire Police:
- Recorded six interactions or engagement with the public. Two of those were for large groups of people not wearing masks.
- Recorded four COVID-related crimes and 25 COVID-related incidents.
In addition, 321 reports were made by the public, either via the phone or online, to let Wiltshire's officers know about potential breaches.
Since the pandemic began, 372 fines have been issued by Wiltshire Police.
However, the force says some of these were retrospective fixed penalty notices, for previous non-COVID incidents.