ASSAULTS on\u00a0police officers must be recorded properly to demonstrate the danger they face day to day, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
The force recorded just two assaults against police officers between 7 April and 6 October 2014, compared to more than 6,200 across the UK. \u201cI have raised this issue time and time again that we are not recording assaults against police officers properly,\u201d said Neil Bowles, Federation chairman.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cSome assaults are probably going down as \u2018slips, trips and falls\u2019, but if an officer is injured during an arrest that should be classified as an assault even if we do not prosecute the offender. They have still been injured carrying out their duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Policing Minister Mike Penning came under fire last year after claiming that there had been thousands fewer assaults on officers than force figures suggested.<\/p>\n
He told politicians during a Parliamentary session that 18,882 officers had been assaulted on duty in England and Wales over the last three financial years. However, Freedom of Information statistics suggested there had been at least 32,864 assaults in that period.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is crucial to know the real numbers so the courts, the public and everybody else can be aware that officers are doing a dangerous job,\u201d said Mr Bowles. \u201cThey need to know if officers are sick or injured as a result of an assault as this will have a knock-on effect on everybody else. If we are not recording it, how can we know what the effect is?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Bowles rejected the idea that the streets were becoming safer for police.<\/p>\n
\u201cViolent crime is on its way up,\u201d he said. \u201cThere have been statistics from the prison service saying that more and more of their staff are getting assaulted because more and more violent offenders are getting imprisoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell we\u2019re the people who put them there in the first place. We come into contact with them on a daily basis. It\u2019s not getting safer at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Federation’s comments come in the wake of the three high-profile police officer deaths in Paris.<\/p>\n