Nearly one in every two constables has been threatened with a weapon
Approximately half of all constables were threatened with a weapon last year, the Police Association Members’ Survey has found.
The survey, conducted by Nielsen in November 2008, found forty-seven percent (47%) of all constabulary (sworn) members had been threatened with a weapon other than a firearm at least once while on duty during the previous year. Seven percent (7%) were threatened at least once with a firearm.
General Duties Branch (GDB) frontline staff faced an even higher incidence of threats – with eleven percent (11%) threatened with a firearm and sixty-seven percent (67%) threatened at least once with any other weapon. More than one-third of members (36%) who were threatened said they did not report the incident.
Alarmingly, the survey revealed that officers are facing not only high levels of threats, but also actual physical violence. More than forty-three percent (43%) of constables said they had been attacked at least once by an offender in the last year, with thirteen percent (13%) assaulted three or more times. One in five said they were injured at least ocne by an offender while on duty last year.
Once again, rates of assault and injury were highest amongst GDB frontline staff, with eighty-six percent (86%) saying they were attacked once or more by an offender in the last year, and thirty-three percent (33%) being injured
