POLICE officers must continue to record assaults if attacks on officers are to be driven down, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
New crime figures showed a 26 per cent rise in assaults against emergency workers this month.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent, South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair, said: \u201cSpeaking from personal experience, I know I didn\u2019t record every assault on myself. Only the ones that ended up with an injury or ended up having a consequence to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the message is that officers need, when they feel they’ve been assaulted by somebody, to record that. Because without that data, we\u2019re not going to see the true picture. I\u2019d like to remind officers that when they feel they\u2019ve been assaulted, and there\u2019s any signs of psychological or physical effect on them, they must get it recorded. If they don\u2019t then it might as well not have happened and that can\u2019t be allowed to happen, as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation will continue to lobby Government and the courts to ensure the issue is taken seriously.<\/p>\n
John Apter, Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales added: \u201cWe have seen a consistent increase in violence against emergency workers during the pandemic with the vast majority of these assaults being against police officers. At the same time other crime types have fallen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis increased level of violence is not just a one off. It is becoming the new norm which is completely unacceptable. Violence in our society is not just a policing issue, all parts of Government and society itself must work together to combat this alarming increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of this is ensuring those responsible for attacking police officers face a suitable deterrent in Court. The sentencing guidelines have been changed, so we need judges and magistrates to use these powers to set an example to those who are assaulting our colleagues, those responsible must spend time in prison. This unjustified violence is a stain on society and needs to be dealt with robustly.\u201d<\/p>\n