Concern Over The Staggering Levels of Police Officer Assault

27 November 2025

Kent Police Federation has called for more action to deter offenders who “punch, spit at and otherwise attack colleagues” after official figures showed a staggering 48,888 assaults on officers in one year.

An officer is assaulted on average every ten minutes in the UK - which means 134 are attacked every day just trying to keep the public safe.

Neil Mennie, Kent Police Federation Chair, said: “It is always depressing to see a continuing upward trend of officer assaults in a profession that is becoming increasingly despondent in many areas.

“There is usually a quick and unfair judgment usually perpetrated by a one sided narrative where officers have had to use justifiable force. This is always with a view of applying the ‘minimum force required’ and careful adherence to the use of force law and legislation.

“This however does not apply to those who spit, punch and otherwise attack colleagues without a consistent and significant consequence for doing so.”

Police Federation of England and Wales Deputy Chair Chair Brian Booth said: “The alarming statistics on police use of force released on Thursday confirm what frontline officers tell us every day: policing is becoming increasingly dangerous."

“Nearly two-thirds of use of force incidents involve officers protecting themselves from violence which is a damning indictment of the epidemic facing our profession.”