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North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Tough action needed to halt level of attacks on police in NI, federation warns
The federation, which represents rank-and-file Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers, said nine officers on average are being assaulted every day in the region. During recent unrest in Northern Ireland, a total of 87 officers were injured, with some treated in hospital. However, the federation has highlighted that officers deal with the daily risk of assault which often leads to injury and time off work, placing additional pressure on serving colleagues. It has launched the 'Let Them Protect' public campaign, backed by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and Justice Minister Naomi Long. Federation chairman Liam Kelly said the nine-a-day figure was conservative as many officers who suffer more minor assaults do not report them. He said: 'These figures are shocking and appalling. It's high time we saw a much tougher approach with assailants who strike, kick, punch and spit at our colleagues. 'We want the public to realise the full extent of what our officers – themselves fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters – have to suffer. 'It's not right they should end up in hospital with injuries they sustain while protecting the community.' Mr Kelly added: 'Decisive and tough sentences handed down by magistrates and judges will deter those who assault our police officers. 'Sentencing guidelines must be strengthened to empower the courts, to implement an effective deterrent.' Ms Long said police officers in Northern Ireland demonstrate 'extraordinary courage' every day. But she added: 'Shockingly, some people still feel that it is OK to attack or assault a police officer or that it's simply part of the job. 'That is not an acceptable attitude towards any other member of society and is certainly not an acceptable manner to treat those who uphold the rule of law and place themselves in harm's way to protect others.' She added: 'I am committed to introducing stronger legislation to protect police officers and staff and will include a new offence, with a higher maximum penalty, for assaulting a person who is providing a service to the public, performing a public duty or delivering a public service in the Sentencing Bill. 'I hope to introduce this legislation to the Assembly in the autumn of this year.' Chief Constable Mr Boutcher said: 'Policing is a tough profession and the officers and staff of the police service who stand up to serve the people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing but our admiration and respect. 'Every one of them does a vital job and whilst they come to work knowing that on any given day they could be faced with difficult and dangerous situations, what we should never accept, is for them to be physically assaulted. 'Being attacked should never be thought of as part of anyone's 'normal day' at work.' Mr Boutcher said the public cannot continue to take policing for granted. He said: 'Support for policing, and for our police officers, needs to be society-wide, and it should be recognised and understood that it is simply not acceptable to assault or attack police officers. 'We cannot, and will not, simply stand by and accept it.' Policing Board chairman Mukesh Sharma said: 'Police officers step forward when others step back. 'They put their lives on the line for others every day and they do not deserve to come to work to be kicked, bitten or assaulted in any other way. 'Regrettably, figures show that officer assaults are no longer isolated incidents and should not be tolerated.' After Thursday's launch event at Stormont, Mr Boutcher and Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron issued a joint statement on the recent disorder. They said: 'The actions of these offenders are unacceptable and we can assure the public that those found to be responsible will be met with the full force of the criminal law. That includes those responsible for malicious attacks on victims, and on police officers subjected to intolerable physical and verbal abuse. 'To meet this shared determination, there has been and will continue to be close engagement between our two organisations. Police investigators and prosecutors are ensuring that offences are being investigated, and files submitted to the PPS for prosecution decision, as quickly as possible. 'A robust, collaborative approach is being taken to ensure that identified offenders will face full consequences for their actions. There should be no doubt for any individual found to have taken part in public disorder, that the consequences are serious. 'As well as prosecution for relevant public order offences, we can assure our communities and the police officers who help keep them safe, that where there is evidence of assaults on police or a hate crime motivation, this will be put before the courts as aggravating factors and appropriate sentences pursued. 'The violent scenes of recent weeks have endangered lives and property, homes and families. Those responsible, who have spread fear and threatened public safety, will not be tolerated.'
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- South Wales Guardian
Tough action needed to halt level of attacks on police in NI, federation warns
The federation, which represents rank-and-file Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers, said nine officers on average are being assaulted every day in the region. During recent unrest in Northern Ireland, a total of 87 officers were injured, with some treated in hospital. However, the federation has highlighted that officers deal with the daily risk of assault which often leads to injury and time off work, placing additional pressure on serving colleagues. It has launched the 'Let Them Protect' public campaign, backed by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and Justice Minister Naomi Long. Federation chairman Liam Kelly said the nine-a-day figure was conservative as many officers who suffer more minor assaults do not report them. He said: 'These figures are shocking and appalling. It's high time we saw a much tougher approach with assailants who strike, kick, punch and spit at our colleagues. 'We want the public to realise the full extent of what our officers – themselves fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters – have to suffer. 'It's not right they should end up in hospital with injuries they sustain while protecting the community.' Mr Kelly added: 'Decisive and tough sentences handed down by magistrates and judges will deter those who assault our police officers. 'Sentencing guidelines must be strengthened to empower the courts, to implement an effective deterrent.' Ms Long said police officers in Northern Ireland demonstrate 'extraordinary courage' every day. But she added: 'Shockingly, some people still feel that it is OK to attack or assault a police officer or that it's simply part of the job. 'That is not an acceptable attitude towards any other member of society and is certainly not an acceptable manner to treat those who uphold the rule of law and place themselves in harm's way to protect others.' She added: 'I am committed to introducing stronger legislation to protect police officers and staff and will include a new offence, with a higher maximum penalty, for assaulting a person who is providing a service to the public, performing a public duty or delivering a public service in the Sentencing Bill. 'I hope to introduce this legislation to the Assembly in the autumn of this year.' Chief Constable Mr Boutcher said: 'Policing is a tough profession and the officers and staff of the police service who stand up to serve the people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing but our admiration and respect. 'Every one of them does a vital job and whilst they come to work knowing that on any given day they could be faced with difficult and dangerous situations, what we should never accept, is for them to be physically assaulted. 'Being attacked should never be thought of as part of anyone's 'normal day' at work.' Mr Boutcher said the public cannot continue to take policing for granted. He said: 'Support for policing, and for our police officers, needs to be society-wide, and it should be recognised and understood that it is simply not acceptable to assault or attack police officers. 'We cannot, and will not, simply stand by and accept it.' Policing Board chairman Mukesh Sharma said: 'Police officers step forward when others step back. 'They put their lives on the line for others every day and they do not deserve to come to work to be kicked, bitten or assaulted in any other way. 'Regrettably, figures show that officer assaults are no longer isolated incidents and should not be tolerated.' After Thursday's launch event at Stormont, Mr Boutcher and Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron issued a joint statement on the recent disorder. They said: 'The actions of these offenders are unacceptable and we can assure the public that those found to be responsible will be met with the full force of the criminal law. That includes those responsible for malicious attacks on victims, and on police officers subjected to intolerable physical and verbal abuse. 'To meet this shared determination, there has been and will continue to be close engagement between our two organisations. Police investigators and prosecutors are ensuring that offences are being investigated, and files submitted to the PPS for prosecution decision, as quickly as possible. 'A robust, collaborative approach is being taken to ensure that identified offenders will face full consequences for their actions. There should be no doubt for any individual found to have taken part in public disorder, that the consequences are serious. 'As well as prosecution for relevant public order offences, we can assure our communities and the police officers who help keep them safe, that where there is evidence of assaults on police or a hate crime motivation, this will be put before the courts as aggravating factors and appropriate sentences pursued. 'The violent scenes of recent weeks have endangered lives and property, homes and families. Those responsible, who have spread fear and threatened public safety, will not be tolerated.'
ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
Tough action needed to halt level of attacks on police in Northern Ireland, federation warns
Legislators and courts need to take 'tough and decisive action' to counter the 'shocking and appalling' toll of attacks on police officers, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has said. The federation, which represents rank-and-file Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers, said nine officers on average are being assaulted every day in the region. During recent unrest in Northern Ireland, more than 70 officers have been injured, with some treated in hospital. However, the federation has highlighted that officers deal with the daily risk of assault which often leads to injury and time off work, placing additional pressure on serving colleagues. It has launched the 'Let Them Protect' public campaign, backed by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and Justice Minister Naomi Long. One police officer recalled being punched so hard to the head that she lost consciousness at an event in west Belfast. Inspector Roisin Brown said the incident left her with post-concussion syndrome and unable to return to work for three weeks, as well as initial nervousness about dealing with the public for a time after that. Sergeant Mark Young also recalled a serious assault he suffered, and said it has become a 'normal part of society in Northern Ireland', adding that he would like to see tougher sentencing for all attacks on police. Ms Brown said every police officer experiences being assaulted. 'Every single day I come into work and I review the previous 24 hours activities, and someone has been assaulted,' she said. 'One of my neighbourhood officers broke his foot four weeks ago at an interface, trying to arrest somebody. 'I actually think assaults are becoming more serious and injuries are becoming more serious, broken bones, people losing consciousness, and then you have the everyday run-of-the-mill assaults that no one really talks about.' Mr Young, who is based in Fermanagh, recalled entering a cell out of concern for a man who was trying to self harm, and coming under attack with multiple blows to the head which left him with 'no clue where I was'. The person responsible received a community service order. 'Myself and a female civilian detention officer went to try and assist him, he turned on a sixpence, became very violent, exceptionally aggressive and punched violently 14-15 times to the head, kneed twice to the side of the head, which whilst it didn't render me unconscious thankfully, I had no clue where I was, and he calmly walked out of the cell and slammed the door shut with me still inside,' he said. 'I was left with a black eye and bruising to the top, back and side of my head which was the physical aspect of it. 'The mental aspect of it was that it happened on Mothering Sunday, I had to go home to my wife and two young children, and they weren't expecting to see me like that. The mental scarring that they have also has an impact on them. 'I would like to see greater sentencing for assaults on police, even at the lowest of levels. 'The gentleman concerned in respect of my assault only received a community service order, and I did receive a lot of support from colleagues and members of the public in respect to the low sentencing that was offered to him.' Police Federation chairman Liam Kelly said the nine-a-day figure was conservative as many officers who suffer more minor assaults do not report them. He said: 'These figures are shocking and appalling. It's high time we saw a much tougher approach with assailants who strike, kick, punch and spit at our colleagues. 'We want the public to realise the full extent of what our officers – themselves fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters – have to suffer. 'It's not right they should end up in hospital with injuries they sustain while protecting the community.' Mr Kelly added: 'Decisive and tough sentences handed down by magistrates and judges will deter those who assault our police officers. 'Sentencing guidelines must be strengthened to empower the courts, to implement an effective deterrent.' Ms Long said police officers in Northern Ireland demonstrate 'extraordinary courage' every day. But she added: 'Shockingly, some people still feel that it is OK to attack or assault a police officer or that it's simply part of the job. 'That is not an acceptable attitude towards any other member of society and is certainly not an acceptable manner to treat those who uphold the rule of law and place themselves in harm's way to protect others.' She added: 'I am committed to introducing stronger legislation to protect police officers and staff and will include a new offence, with a higher maximum penalty, for assaulting a person who is providing a service to the public, performing a public duty or delivering a public service in the Sentencing Bill. 'I hope to introduce this legislation to the Assembly in the autumn of this year.' Chief Constable Mr Boutcher said: 'Policing is a tough profession and the officers and staff of the police service who stand up to serve the people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing but our admiration and respect. 'Every one of them does a vital job and whilst they come to work knowing that on any given day they could be faced with difficult and dangerous situations, what we should never accept, is for them to be physically assaulted. 'Being attacked should never be thought of as part of anyone's 'normal day' at work.' Mr Boutcher said the public cannot continue to take policing for granted. He said: 'Support for policing, and for our police officers, needs to be society-wide, and it should be recognised and understood that it is simply not acceptable to assault or attack police officers. 'We cannot, and will not, simply stand by and accept it.' Policing Board chairman Mukesh Sharma said: 'Police officers step forward when others step back. 'They put their lives on the line for others every day and they do not deserve to come to work to be kicked, bitten or assaulted in any other way.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- South Wales Guardian
PSNI ‘far more robust' in response to attacks on officers, warns Jon Boutcher
Jon Boutcher acknowledged there had previously been reluctance within the Police Service of Northern Ireland to deploy tactics such as baton rounds (AEPs) and water cannon due to concern among officers that they might be subject to complaints. He said that since last summer's race-related disturbances in the region, the PSNI was being 'far more proactive and robust' in response to attacks directed at them. Speaking to the media at an event at Stormont to highlight high levels of assaults against officers across all areas of policing, the chief constable also described as 'nuts' social media platforms that enable people to generate income from livestreaming disorder. There were multiple incidents of people livestreaming disorder in parts of Northern Ireland last week. Mr Boutcher said his officers had put themselves in harm's way to police the incidents, with 87 injured as a result. 'I have a duty to protect those officers,' he said. 'In the disturbances last August you will have seen a shift, we were far more proactive and robust in our tactics last August. And we are more robust again. 'And I will bring support in from policing (elsewhere) in the United Kingdom to ensure that we can police these disturbances until we've arrested all of those concerned. And we will arrest them. We will pursue them, we'll find them, we'll arrest them, we'll prosecute them, and we will put them in prison.' He added: 'I'll be very clear, I have no tolerance for assaults on police officers. And I think if you speak to the police officers here, they would be unequivocal in the fact that we use all the tactics available to us, whether that's AEP rounds, whether that's water cannon, but we do it proportionately. 'You've seen the footage of what these officers have faced – the masonry, the petrol bombs, the railings and axe (all thrown at them). We will not stand there and be assaulted. We'll defend ourselves. 'We'll take proactive measures to stop that, and we will go after them. And we'll put their images in the media, that wasn't happening. So we've released more images of people we want to arrest. 'Don't do it. Stop it. I will be very clear. I will not accept this. I will not accept it, but none of us should accept it. Nobody in society should accept this.' Mr Boutcher continued: 'So last year, last August, to be clear, when the disturbances started, I felt that, and I spoke to police officers, officers told me that they didn't feel supported, they stood there and took incoming missiles of all sorts of descriptions. 'There are a range of tactics available to them. They felt that here complaints are made against them for using those tactics in a way they're not made anywhere else. 'This is our police service. This is the line between keeping society safe and there being, you know, havoc in society, chaos in society. 'We will use all the tactics available to us to protect those officers and protect society. We will not stand there and take missiles in the way that I've seen occur before, unless we absolutely have to. We will be absolutely robust in dealing with people.' On the issue of livestreaming rioting, Mr Boutcher said: 'Much of the stuff that you see online, and there is so much of it, is from overseas. Most of it is from abroad. It's not from here. 'People who don't know Northern Ireland, they don't know Portadown, they don't know Ballymena, they're just getting on this almost crowd euphoria looking remotely. That's what's encouraging a lot of this behaviour. 'I was only told recently, the more looks or likes you get when you're filming these events, you get money on social media platforms. That's nuts. 'Don't go out anywhere near these disturbances and disorders. Stay away, because if you get caught up in it, it can change your lives forever. 'Whatever you think you can achieve in life will be seriously handicapped if you are arrested and prosecuted for these crimes that are being committed. Don't do it.'
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Tough action needed to halt level of attacks on police in NI, federation warns
Legislators and courts need to take 'tough and decisive action' to counter the 'shocking and appalling' toll of attacks on police officers, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has said. The federation, which represents rank-and-file Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers, said nine officers on average are being assaulted every day in the region. During recent unrest in Northern Ireland, a total of 87 officers were injured, with some treated in hospital. However, the federation has highlighted that officers deal with the daily risk of assault which often leads to injury and time off work, placing additional pressure on serving colleagues. It has launched the 'Let Them Protect' public campaign, backed by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and Justice Minister Naomi Long. Federation chairman Liam Kelly said the nine-a-day figure was conservative as many officers who suffer more minor assaults do not report them. He said: 'These figures are shocking and appalling. It's high time we saw a much tougher approach with assailants who strike, kick, punch and spit at our colleagues. 'We want the public to realise the full extent of what our officers – themselves fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters – have to suffer. 'It's not right they should end up in hospital with injuries they sustain while protecting the community.' Mr Kelly added: 'Decisive and tough sentences handed down by magistrates and judges will deter those who assault our police officers. 'Sentencing guidelines must be strengthened to empower the courts, to implement an effective deterrent.' Ms Long said police officers in Northern Ireland demonstrate 'extraordinary courage' every day. But she added: 'Shockingly, some people still feel that it is OK to attack or assault a police officer or that it's simply part of the job. 'That is not an acceptable attitude towards any other member of society and is certainly not an acceptable manner to treat those who uphold the rule of law and place themselves in harm's way to protect others.' She added: 'I am committed to introducing stronger legislation to protect police officers and staff and will include a new offence, with a higher maximum penalty, for assaulting a person who is providing a service to the public, performing a public duty or delivering a public service in the Sentencing Bill. 'I hope to introduce this legislation to the Assembly in the autumn of this year.' Chief Constable Mr Boutcher said: 'Policing is a tough profession and the officers and staff of the police service who stand up to serve the people of Northern Ireland deserve nothing but our admiration and respect. 'Every one of them does a vital job and whilst they come to work knowing that on any given day they could be faced with difficult and dangerous situations, what we should never accept, is for them to be physically assaulted. 'Being attacked should never be thought of as part of anyone's 'normal day' at work.' Mr Boutcher said the public cannot continue to take policing for granted. He said: ' Support for policing, and for our police officers, needs to be society-wide, and it should be recognised and understood that it is simply not acceptable to assault or attack police officers. 'We cannot, and will not, simply stand by and accept it.' Policing Board chairman Mukesh Sharma said: ' Police officers step forward when others step back. 'They put their lives on the line for others every day and they do not deserve to come to work to be kicked, bitten or assaulted in any other way. 'Regrettably, figures show that officer assaults are no longer isolated incidents and should not be tolerated.' After Thursday's launch event at Stormont, Mr Boutcher and Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron issued a joint statement on the recent disorder. They said: 'The actions of these offenders are unacceptable and we can assure the public that those found to be responsible will be met with the full force of the criminal law. That includes those responsible for malicious attacks on victims, and on police officers subjected to intolerable physical and verbal abuse. 'To meet this shared determination, there has been and will continue to be close engagement between our two organisations. Police investigators and prosecutors are ensuring that offences are being investigated, and files submitted to the PPS for prosecution decision, as quickly as possible. 'A robust, collaborative approach is being taken to ensure that identified offenders will face full consequences for their actions. There should be no doubt for any individual found to have taken part in public disorder, that the consequences are serious. 'As well as prosecution for relevant public order offences, we can assure our communities and the police officers who help keep them safe, that where there is evidence of assaults on police or a hate crime motivation, this will be put before the courts as aggravating factors and appropriate sentences pursued. 'The violent scenes of recent weeks have endangered lives and property, homes and families. Those responsible, who have spread fear and threatened public safety, will not be tolerated.'
