PCC for Sussex touches on “appalling rise of attacks” on police officers

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The police and crime commissioner for Sussex has spoken about the rise in attacks police officers are dealing with.

Katy Bourne, the PPC for Sussex, said she was asked about the subject in a radio interview.

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She said, “I was asked to talk on local radio about the appalling rise of attacks and abuse on police officers following alarming figures revealed by the Police Federation and government statistics.

“Over the past year in Sussex, more than three officers were assaulted every day, totalling 1,235 attacks with 26 per cent resulting in injury.”

PCC Katy BournePCC Katy Bourne
PCC Katy Bourne

Mrs Bourne said the number of assaults has “steadily increased” over the past three years – 1,151 attacks took place in Sussex last year.

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Nationally, there were 36,969 attacks last year, an increase of 20 per cent on the year before.

Officers have been faced with members of the public deliberately spitting and coughing on them since the pandemic started.

She said, “I made it very clear that the public depend upon police officers to keep us all as safe as possible, so the law needs to ensure that we protect our emergency service workers including police.

“This is why I support the proposed doubling of the available jail sentences for people who assault them.”

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