The Federation’s Welsh co-lead Zac Mader has described as ‘absolutely appalling’ figures that show there were more than 2,000 assaults on police officers in Wales.

Zac said it equates to an officer being attacked almost every four hours, as he called for more ‘protection for the protectors’.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics showed there was a total of 2,054 assaults on officers in the year to 31 March 2023, with 597 of them resulting in injury.

The breakdown across the four Forces in Wales saw 393 assaults on Dyfed Powys Police officers with 123 resulting in injury; 474 assaults on Gwent Police officers with 113 resulting in injury; 467 assaults on North Wales Police with 135 resulting in injury; and 720 assaults on South Wales Police officers with 226 resulting in injury.

Across the whole of England and Wales, there was a total of 40,330 attacks on officers in the year to 31 March, with 11,022 resulting in an injury to an officer.

Zac said: “These figures are absolutely appalling and underline the levels of violence and the threat of violence that our members face.

“Attacks on officers must never be accepted as being part of the job. are just normal people doing their jobs, and have their families to go home to at the end of their shift.

“Yet, on average, an officer is assaulted every four hours in Wales, which is disgusting. We can’t allow it to continue.

“The maximum penalty that courts can hand down on offenders who assault officers was doubled to two years in prison after a long-running campaign by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW).

“We need protection for the protectors from the courts, and for them to use the powers available to support our members and to send out the message this is not acceptable.”

Zac said the number of attacks on officers added weight to PFEW calls for all officers who want it to be given training and access to Taser.

He said: “The Federation has long called for every frontline officer to be Taser-trained, if they want to.

“They’re facing increasing levels of violence and must be able to protect themselves.

“Officers equipped with Taser are less likely to be assaulted, and often just its presence or it being drawn is enough to diffuse and de-escalate a situation without it actually being used.”