#ProtectTheProtectors: 824 assaults on Humberside Police officers in the past year

30 July 2021

There were 824 assaults on Humberside Police officers recorded last year. That’s nearly 16 colleagues assaulted every week. More than 2 police officers assaulted every single day.

Nationally, there were 36,969 assaults on police officers in England & Wales last year. That’s a 20%+ national rise.

It works out as 720 assaults a week, 101 assaults on police officers every day and more than 4 assaults every hour.

Rob Grunner, Secretary of Humberside Police Federation, (pictured) said: “The fact that assaults have risen during the pandemic when my colleagues have been out in local communities, working to keep them safe is doubly disappointing to see.

“We have seen that a small proportion of our local communities have seen fit to try to weaponise Covid-19 against us which I can only describe as abhorrent and disgusting. These are my colleagues, who are going home to their families and potentially taking the virus back with them.

“They willingly accepted the risks to continue to work hard in our local communities knowing it made them face a greater exposure to infection. People coughing and spitting at them whilst actively telling them they had Covid-19 is beyond reproach.”

11,235 police officers were injured when the public assaulted them over the past year – that’s 30 injuries to police officers every single day of the year.

Rob added: “We need to see some serious deterrents when people are put before a court for assaulting any emergency services worker. Until it is seen by society as totally unacceptable, I fear this will continue - and would like to see the maximum available sentences applied.

“The fact that Government have only seen fit to offer us warm words and promises of ‘other things’ when it has come to a police officer pay rise this year is simply not good enough. Will these ‘things’ put food on tables, pay mortgages and other household bills? Absolutely not.

“When you consider our pay increases since 2010 averages out at 1.3% per year we are now 18% behind where we should be to keep up with the cost of living. A fair pay rise is the very least my colleagues deserve along with colleagues in other public sectors who have had a pay increase.

“The fact that we do not even have a fair and independent pay review board simply highlights the contempt we are held in by our Government. This simply has to change.”