Copped Enough: call for stronger criminal justice support for officers attacked on duty

20 May 2026

New figures reveal Suffolk Police officers were assaulted 622 times in the past year – but the Federation has warned the actual level of violence faced by frontline officers is far higher.

The statistics, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show officers were subjected to a wide range of attacks, from common assaults to grievous bodily harm, and even strangulation and suffocation.

Suffolk Police Federation vice chair Matt Paisley said that officers' under-reporting of attacks on them means the figures should be viewed as a minimum.

He said: “That’s not the full picture.

“We know officers across the county are assaulted during the course of their duty and don’t always record it.

“For many, it becomes habitual and almost seen as an occupational hazard.”

Assaults

The FOI data showed there were 448 assaults or assaults by beating of a constable and 109 assaults occasioning actual bodily harm.

Other offences included GBH with intent to resist or prevent arrest (2), GBH serious wound without intent (4), wounding with intent to resist or prevent arrest (2), wounding with intent to do GBH (2), and three offences of strangulation and suffocation.

Matt said that with around 1,400 officers serving Suffolk, and roughly a third working frontline roles, many officers will have been assaulted more than once.

 

Vice chair Matt Paisley

 

“These are not just minor incidents,” he said. “Officers are going home with broken skin, bruises, cuts and sometimes broken bones.

“What the figures don’t show is the damaged personal property, repeat victims, or the cumulative impact across a policing career.

“How many officers are in those 622 assaults? Is it the second, third, or fourth time an officer has been attacked in the past year?

Dangers

“What about over a 20-year career?

“It underlines the dangers officers are facing day in, day out.”

Matt encouraged members to report all assaults on them to provide a clear picture of the issue.

But he said officers often don’t report assaults because they feel the criminal justice system does not fully support them.

Long waits for cases to reach court, often 18 months or more, followed by prosecutions being dropped, can discourage officers from pursuing justice.

“They don’t want the hassle of reporting it and everything that involves only for months down the line the case to be discontinued,” he said.

“They feel assaults against police are often treated as expected in the role, and that’s wrong. Assault is assault.”

He said this lack of confidence feeds directly into under-reporting, masking the real scale of violence against officers.

Matt said the number of assaults is on the increase, partly due to changing public attitudes to the police and the pressures officers face while policing in an era of social media and camera phones.

Confrontations

He said that daily officers deal with volatile incidents in which members of the public film confrontations on mobile phones, creating additional risk.

“You’re dealing with aggressive individuals while phones are being shoved in your face,” he said. “Everything you do can be clipped, shared and taken out of context.

“Officers are trying to de-escalate situations while also worrying how their actions will look online.”

This can embolden offenders while leaving officers feeling physically and professionally vulnerable, he said.

Matt said the issue goes beyond Suffolk. Indeed, the FOI request was shared with neighbouring Norfolk Police Federation, which found that 959 of its officers were assaulted in the past financial year.

Now Matt has renewed the Federation’s call for a shift in how policing is viewed nationally and by the criminal justice system.

He said negative discourse surrounding policing was influencing behaviour towards officers and reducing respect for them.

“Police officers are people,” he said: “They get out of bed, say goodbye to their families and put on a uniform to keep the public safe.

Shift

“They simply want to do their job and go home safely at the end of the shift.”

He said that officers often return home carrying the physical and mental impact of assaults while facing uncertainty over whether offenders will ever be held accountable.

The Police Federation of England and Wales’s (PFEW) Copped Enough campaign highlights the violence officers face on the streets.

Matt said: “Copped Enough is calling for those who assault our members to face sentences that properly reflect the seriousness of the crime.

“Just because someone wears a police uniform doesn’t mean violence against them is acceptable.

“We need stronger support from the courts, the criminal justice system, and society as a whole, and we need those who attack officers to receive the toughest possible sentences.”

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