Chief Constables urged to write assault impact statements

THE Police Federation has called on all Chief Constables to personally issue ‘impact statements’ for every prosecution over the assault of an officer or member of the police staff.

The move comes in line with calls for better protection for officers as part of the Police Federation of England and Wales’s #ProtectTheProtectors campaign.

The campaign is tackling the issue of assaults on emergency service workers.

The impact statements, written by a Chief Constable, will be used during sentencing and allow Judges to take into consideration the impact the assault has had on the force, the officer’s family and the public.

They will be used in conjunction with statements from the victim.

Some Chiefs across England and Wales are already doing this.

PFEW Chair Calum Macleod said he hoped all chiefs would follow suit. He added: “To assault a police officer, or other emergency service worker is to attack society itself and should never be accepted as ‘part of the job.’

“Individual victim impact statements have long been used to help courts understand the affects this has on those directly involved but this takes it a step further. The impact of assaults on police officers not only affects the individual concerned, but their families and friends and the service as a whole.

“When officers are assaulted they may need time off to recover, which in turn affects staffing levels at a time when officers numbers are at an all-time low.

“That in turn affects the demands on the officers who remain on duty and in the end the service to the public is further depleted. I hope this goes a long way to reinforcing the message that assaults on our officers are completely unacceptable and the impact is much wider.”

Calum concluded: “It is good news that some Chiefs are already doing this but it would be better if all did. It is something we will push with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to see if they will drive it forward further if they are not already do so.”