More support for police officers who have been victims of crime

Latest figures show that there are more than 400 assaults on officers and staff each year in Lincolnshire, with kicking, spitting and biting among the most frequent types of attack. More recently, the police have seen incidents of coughing and spitting at officers during the Covid-19 outbreak.

For more than a year, senior leaders at the Force have worked with the Lincolnshire Police Federation to introduce the new policy, which aims to understand the true scale and number of officer assaults, while re-affirming their commitment to protecting the protectors.

The employee will be at the centre of the investigation, treating them as a victim of crime and continuing to thoroughly investigate offences including physical assaults, sexual assaults, racial abuse or hate crime.

They will also be given a full care package starting directly after the incident, through their recovery, and up to and sometimes beyond any court case.

The police are looking at increasing their support to officers including the paying of compensation directly to officers, and opportunities for counselling, training or medical support.

Assistant Chief Officer, Andrew White, said: “Any attack on a police officer is not simply an assault, it’s an attack on the rule of law.

“We’re also improving how we investigate assaults, while also working closely with the CPS to press for an increased number of successful prosecutions."

Inspector Barry Steele, of the Lincolnshire Police Federation, said: “This is something that we have been lobbying very hard for, for the last 18 months.

“We conducted a Taser survey within Force last year, which suggested that 57 per cent of our members felt that their life had been in danger at some point in the preceding two years.

“If you go from the last Bank Holiday to now, we are aware of 56 assaults on officers which have included a fractured skull; fractured ribs; a fractured leg; officers being bombarded with bottles; and officers being rammed in a car. It does not make for good reading."

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