2,000 WORKING DAYS LOST AT GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE DUE TO ASSAULTS ON OFFICERS

12.03.00pm GMT Wed 17th Feb 2010

2,074 working days were lost in the last year in Greater Manchester Police Force due to assaults on officers, more than double the number lost in 2008, and the biggest increase in the country, according to research from Hazel Grove MP Andrew Stunell.

Figures show that 17,055 days were lost in 2008-09 in the 43 Police Forces in England and Wales in 2008-09, up from 15,338 the year before with Greater Manchester the second worst-hit force in the country. A total of 78,276 days were lost over the course of the last five years in all the police forces in England and Wales.

Andrew is now campaigning for the government to do more to protect frontline officers.

Commenting, Andrew Stunell said:

"Violence against Police Officers is totally unacceptable. They clearly aren't being provided with the protection that they need to do their jobs.

"It is clear that a bad situation is getting worse. Current measures are clearly not effective enough, with over 2,000 working days lost because of attacks on Greater Manchester officers, more than twice as many as last year.

"The message needs to get through to the public that there must be zero-tolerance on attacks, abuse and threats of violence and this means prosecuting the offenders and putting them through the courts.

"Rather than tackle the problem head-on, the Home Office appears content to let the problem fester. It is vital that the Government does much more to ensure the safety of police officers in what is a very challenging environment, so that next year we see fewer officers assaulted, not more."

ENDS