Holly Lynch – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Holly Lynch on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage police officers and police community support officers (PCSO) to report assaults sustained in the line of duty, (b) standardise the procedure for reporting assaults across the 48 police forces and (c) standardise the procedures for investigating and responding to an alleged assault on an officer or PCSO.

Brandon Lewis

I want to be clear that an assault of any kind on a police officer or police community support officers is wholly unacceptable. Chief Constables, working with directly elected police and crime commissioners, have a duty to manage and support the police workforce effectively, ensuring the welfare of all officers and staff.

The College of Policing develops standards and guidance for policing and works with forces to manage and prevent assaults.

Last year we published figures on assaults on police officers for the first time since 2009/10 and developed this further in 2016. We continue to work with forces to improve the data.

Sentencing guidelines already provide for assault on a police officer to be treated more severely in appropriate cases. The courts need to be able to take into account all the circumstances of each case.