Eleven Kent Police officers were assaulted after responding to calls for help from the public last weekend – including three in Thanet,
Between Friday, June 28 and Sunday, June 30 , officers reported being spat at, kicked, threatened with violence, punched and pushed. In one incident an officer required hospital treatment after hitting his head in attempting to restrain a suspect.
On Friday three officers in Thanet were spat at, punched and kicked after arresting a man in connection with a criminal damage offence.
At each incident the suspect was arrested using new powers under the recently introduced Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018.
The act came into force in November 2018 and created a new offence of assault against emergency workers, including police, paramedics, nurses and other blue light workers. It also provides tougher sentencing powers for judges.
Since then Kent Police has charged a total of 435 people under the new legislation.
Deputy Chief Constable Tony Blaker said: “Every day our officers are required to attend unpredictable, challenging and sometimes volatile situations. This doesn’t mean they should accept being abused, assaulted or spat at as part of the job.
“The large number of arrests made at the weekend demonstrates that such behaviour will simply not be tolerated.
“Like any other job, officers should not be subjected to assaults whilst they are carrying out their duties. It is unacceptable and those who are responsible for abusing and assaulting police officers can expect to be charged with an offence that can carry serious penalties.”
In addition to the new legislation, to protect officers from violence, the number of Taser trained officers is being increased across Kent.
Any officer who is likely to have to deal with violent incidents whilst on duty is now able to choose to go through a rigorous training and accreditation programme to carry the less than lethal weapon. At the end of 2018 there were 334 Taser-trained officers in Kent. This figure is projected to rise to between 1,000 and 1,500.
Thank the Government for allowing Britain to become a Lawless Stabbing/Murdering society!
All down to Police Cuts, and “human” rights of these ‘I can anything, and the Police can’t touch me’ society. Kids dangerously riding their bikes all over the place, stabbings on nearly every Street corner of London.
Never before have Canada and Australian Embassy’s been over filled with Emigration Requests from decent British folk.
Please stop exaggerating. It is simply not true to say that there are “stabbings on nearly every street corner of London”. What is the point of being so alarmist?
It’s absolutely disgusting the way the police are treated by so many of the public especially drunks /druggies all types. What makes it worse now is that we as a law abiding people do not go to a police officers assistance if he or she is in need of help as we ourselves are frightened of being stabed as this is the weapon of choice for people who tend to attack the police doing their choice of work protecting the law abiding of us from these thugs etc. I’ve just watched a programme on channel 4 dispatches about the police and the amount of officers suffering from PTSD and some of the horrific injuries they are getting everyone should watch it. 20,000 less police in the force now they are trying to recruit 2,000 new police but with so many being injured or leaving the force they need to recruit 30,000 more just keep it at a decent level of policing.
Kathy you are right no one should be attacked for doing the lawful duties whatsoever nurses /doctors /paramedics /fireservices & police are finding themselves under more attacks from the public who they are trying to help. Stronger sentences are needed for the people committing these crimes we have been to lax for too long.
Longer prison sentances are the only way to get the scum off the streets. A lot of the posters on this site disagree with harsher sentancing as they feel prison criminalises the offenders, ffs, they are criminals and thats why they go to prison. At least if the scum are incarcerated they cannot harm anyone while they are imprisoned.
For years left wing teachers, lawmakers and social workers have been pushing the government to implement social justice with softer sentancing and the human rights of the perpetrators at the heart of their policies and now as a result of the government listening and pandering to these very vocal minorities, crime is out of control with the criminals and feral kids fully aware that the police have no real power and they no longer fear them as authority figures.
Yes poverty plays a part for some offenders, a shortage of police also plays its part as well, however millions of English citizens live in poverty and do not resort to crime, antisocial behaviour, violence or join gangs, why ? because the majority of us have been raised correctly by our parents, we have grown up to respect authority and have been raised with morals and a sense of decency. Bad parenting is the biggest contributor to the rise in crime in this country, too many slacker parents have children but dont want the hassle of actually being parents to their children.
Bad parenting is like cancer in this Country and it is only getting worse. If your old enough to have kids then your old enough to be responsible for them.
Make parents accountable for their children, perhaps then they would be more inclined to actually care what thier kids get up too and add some authority to their lives rather than letting them
roam round in feral packs.
Perhaps if these bad parents took responsibility for their children they could prevent them from a life of crime by stopping them before they start.
Well put concerned we do need bigger sentences and take away the privileges they get given make them earn them like they used to criminals have it to easily inside I actually think they should be made to work. They have done wrong by whatever they were found guilty of doing now make them repay society there are so many things to be done and if they won’t then they get no telly games room phone calls smokes etc make it tougher. Yes I can see the namby panby people saying civil rights I say bullshit to that as did they think about your feelings when they stole from you or knifed that kid or police officer no way did they. Come on we need to make sure they think about what they are going to do and I f court what is going to happen to them.
Caught not court
These problems must be addressed by the Home Secretary as a matter of urgency, both the present one and his soon to be selected successor. Our Thanet MPs should be much more vocal