MORE officers are being assaulted on duty at South Yorkshire Police due to a lack of training and growing pressure on numbers, the force\u2019s Federation has said.<\/p>\n
With fewer officers available, they are being increasingly endangered and more needs to be done to protect them, Neil Bowles, Federation Chairman said.<\/p>\n
Mr Bowles said: \u201cMore officers are being assaulted at work mainly due to the fact there are fewer available. This fits in to the call for a larger role out of Taser. And officer safety training is being cut due to trying to manage the abstraction rates of staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officers need more time to learn the techniques if they are to work, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe techniques that are being taught rely on muscle memory and so need to be learnt by repetition, to create those links in your brain to ensure a technique is second nature like driving, rather than being thought about at the time of need. We should be getting more training not less.\u201d<\/p>\n
In South Yorkshire, officers get eight hours\u2019 training every year, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed last month – less than the national average.<\/p>\n
The highest amount is up to 20 hours a year, with the average of forces who responded to the FOI at 9.5 hours\u2019 personal safety training annually.<\/p>\n