Humberside Police describe rise in assaults against officers as 'unacceptable'
New figures on the number of attacks recorded have been released
Last updated 16th Nov 2023
A rise in assaults on Humberside Police officers which has seen 477 injured since 2018 is wholly unacceptable, the force’s chief constable has said.
Humberside Police figures showed 1,201 police constables assaulted from the start of 2018 to July this year, with around a quarter of them resulting in injuries.
Humberside Police Chief Constable Paul Anderson said violence towards officers was becoming more frequently nationally and the force was no exception.
Figures from a freedom of information request showed that of the assaults on police officers since 2018, 723 resulted in no injury.
Attacks on officers peaked during 2020 when 227 were assaulted, with the total dropping to 219 the following year and 208 last year.
The 208 officers assaulted in 2022 was down slightly on 2018’s 211 but was higher than the 205 recorded in 2019.
The amount of officers assaulted up to July this year was 130.
Male officers were the victims in the majority of cases, 570, with 477 women assaulted during the same period.
The gender of two victims was not recorded and another was indeterminate.
Hull had the highest share of the total assaults, with 281 recorded there since the start of 2018.
It was followed by North East Lincolnshire, where 269 officers were assaulted, North Lincolnshire, 205 and the East Riding, 201.
The highest count of offences recorded in a single incident was 20, on an officer assaulted in Hull in October 2020.
The next four highest were also in Hull, ranging from 18 to 16 in cases of officers assaulted from October 2019 to March this year.
Chief Constable Anderson said assaults should never be a part of the job police officers do.
The Chief Constable said: “Violence towards police officers is becoming more frequent nationally, and Humberside Police area is no exception.
“Our officers and staff remain dedicated to protecting members of the public, often placing themselves in dangerous situations, putting their own safety at risk to achieve this.
“Police officers in particular accept that there is a risk in the job that they do and they are appropriately trained and equipped to deal with this risk.
“However, it is wholly unacceptable for them to be assaulted whilst working hard to protect our communities, this is not part of the job that they do.
“As a part of our seven-point promise, our officers and staff deserve and have the right to full victim support and care where subjected to an assault.
“We will always deal robustly with anyone that attempts to harm or injure our officers, staff or other emergency workers by seeking maximum penalties and custodial sentences.”