Rank-and-file police officers call for tougher sentencing as attacks on PSNI officers reach five-year high

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, a body which represents PSNI officers, is calling for "deterrents that make assailants think twice of spitting, biting, kicking and head-butting officers".

This comes after the PSNI revealed that the number assaults on police with injury have increased year-on-year since 2018.

Police say there were 516 such incidents during the period April 2018 to March 2019, rising to 911 for the period April 2021 to March 2022.

And since April, there have been 923.

The force's head of local policing said the level of violence officers are increasingly exposed to is "disturbing".

Assistant chief constable Bobby Singleton said: "Police officers often step into the unknown, placing their lives at risk, to protect others and that should never be taken for granted.

"Being a police officer has always been a tough job, but being spat at and spat on, kicked, punched or bitten is not ‘part of the job’. Our officers are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. They are public servants, but

they’re not punch bags.”

Just last weekend, the PSNI said six officers were assaulted in Strabane – including three female officers. One said that during her 15 years of service she has been assaulted around a dozen times – including being spat at and kicked at, as well as having been threatened with violence and having glass bottles waved in her face along with verbal abuse.

"We have families too, and we're doing our job,” she said. “We don't deserve to be assaulted."

ACC Singleton said: “Unfortunately it’s not unique and, increasingly, we see our officers exposed to attacks, assaults and acts of violence,” he says. “We are facing a different type of demand now. It’s no longer just conventional crime that we deal with. We deal with extremely complex issues, issues around vulnerability, which we are regrettably forced into trying to resolve. In doing so, at times, officers are exposed to serious risk.”

During one week in January of this year, 43 police officers were assaulted. One of these officers sustained a dislocated knee. With six years of service, the response officer said he’s been assaulted around a dozen times in the last three years alone. He believes there is a perception among some people that assaults on police are 'part of the job’.

“I didn’t join the police to be assaulted, to break a limb or to be spat on,” he said.

Liam Kelly, chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said: "Attacks and assaults on our officers are increasing in frequency, and that is wholly unacceptable. We know of too many cases where officers were hospitalised with horrendous injuries. Some have been forced to retire through ill health. Scores of officers are unable to work as they recover at home. This means reduced levels of service to the public, which no one wants. It also places heavy pressure on colleagues who take on the additional workload.”

He added: “We have to see deterrents that make assailants think twice of spitting, biting, kicking and head-butting officers. Tougher sentencing by the Courts is urgently required.”