12 officers assaulted over the weekend

14 March 2023

West Mercia Police Federation secretary Pete Nightingale has described attacks on officers as “completely unacceptable” after a weekend which saw no fewer than a dozen separate assaults on frontline personnel.

Pete said those responsible should be ashamed of themselves and called for anyone convicted of assault on a police officer to receive the maximum possible sentence available to the courts.

He said: “This weekend alone 12 West Mercia Police officers were assaulted doing their job. 

“Some of these were spat at which is absolutely disgusting and comes with additional stress of potentially picking up contagious diseases. 

“This is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Police officers are humans, they have families and they do not deserve to face violence for doing their job.”

Pete said the assaults took place across the Force area between Friday and Sunday night and warned the number of such incidents was on the rise.

The latest Home Office figures for assaults on police officers are for the year ending March 2022. During that 12-month period a total of 671 West Mercia Police officers were assaulted with 207 suffering injuries as a result.

National data for the same period showed there had been a total of 41,221 assaults on officers across England and Wales, up from 37,968 the previous year.

Successive Home Secretaries have vowed to clamp down on individuals who carry out attacks on blue light workers.

The 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act saw the maximum sentence for assaults on emergency workers increase from 12 months to two years after intensive lobbying by the Police Federation with its Protect The Protectors campaign.

Pete said: “We would urge judges and magistrates to deliver the toughest possible sentences on those convicted of assaulting a police officer.

“It must never be dismissed as being ‘part of the job’ because no one should have to tolerate being exposed to violence of any kind when they go to work.”