#ProtectTheProtectors: We need to start looking at minimum sentencing

JUDGES and Magistrates must have the power to hand down minimum sentences to thugs who attack the police says South Yorkshire Police Federation as new figures reveal a sharp rise in assaults on officers.

Under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (offences) act 2018, which came into force on the back of the Federation’s Protect the Protectors campaign, people who assault officers can receive a custodial sentence of up to 12 months.

That’s double the previous sentencing guidelines but with 568 South Yorkshire Police Officers being assaulted over the past year (up 91 from the previous year) it’s clear the new law is not acting as a deterrent says South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent.

“We appreciate the hard work done with the Protect the Protectors [campaign] and we appreciate that the legislation’s there,” he said.

“What we need to be looking at is a minimum sentence. So, within those sentencing guidelines, set out a minimum sentence. If you assault a police officer, you get a minimum sentence of six months.

“The word would get out very quickly with that and it’d make a massive difference to the attitude of the people we come across. It’s not going to be an overnight change, but it would be a start.

“The legislation needs to be reinforced, because there’s no point having those legislative powers if we’re never going to use them. Obviously, a bit of a PR exercise around that would help bring awareness to the public and our people that we deal with, shall we say,” he added.

The impact of assaults on colleagues goes beyond the initial pain of the attack itself and Steve says it can unsurprisingly knock officers’ confidence.

“When people are getting assaulted it has a massive knock-on effect for their mental health and it has a knock-on effect for their welfare, because the officers can’t do the job knowing that they’re not getting backed up by the right number of officers.

“And also, in the knowledge that if they do get assaulted, they’re not going to get protected by the law and by the courts. It affects your confidence to do the job in the same way that they would normally do it.”