Data will help drive better protection from assaults

1 March 2019

Kent Police Federation is using data to drive better protection for officers from being assaulted while on duty.

The Federation contacts all officers who have been attacked, whatever the circumstance and whether they have been injured or not, in a bid to ensure they are getting the support they need.

Getting a clear idea of the figures involved means the Federation can show hard evidence to drive change and improvements.

Federation Chairman Chris Carter said: “Regardless of the level of injury, we will make contact and make sure that the officer or officers involved are getting the support they should have from the force, to make sure there isn’t anything else that we could be doing for them, and to understand how that assault came about.

“Was it work equipment failure, was it because of single crewing, for instance.”

Figures show that on average two officers are assaulted every day in the county.

“It’s around 16 officers a week although we’ve not had a full year’s worth of data yet,” Chris added.

“That number is fairly consistent. It was maybe a little bit higher during the summer months, it then picked up again for the New Year and Christmas period.

“We’ll continue to get that data and then go back to the force with it to say we need to look at what can be done to reduce that number”.