1075 days lost at Northumbria Police due to assaults on officers

1.00.00pm GMT Fri 20th Mar 2009

Northumbria Police lost more than a thousand working days in a single year because of assaults on their officers, new figures reveal.

Alan Beith joined police on patrol in Berwick to hear from officers about the challenges they face in their work.

Sir Alan Beith MP said:

"Violence against police officers is totally unacceptable. Police officers are clearly not being provided with the protection that they need to do their jobs.

"Current measures are clearly not effective enough as 1075 days are lost because of attacks on Northumbria police officers.

"There must be zero tolerance on attacks, abuse and threats of violence and this means prosecuting the offenders and putting them through the courts.

"The Government must do more to ensure the safety of police officers in what is already a very challenging working environment."

Figures show that 34 forces lost a total of 15,338 officer working days due to assaults in the latest year for which figures are available.

Most badly hit was the Metropolitan Police, with 5,848 days lost, followed by West Midlands (1,166), Northumbria (1,075) and Greater Manchester (832). The figures were released in a written parliamentary answer from Policing Minister Vernon Coaker.