Chair angry at series of assaults on officers

13 March 2018

Leicestershire Police Federation chair Tiff Lynch has reacted angrily to a series of attacks on officers in the last few days, joining the Chief Constable in condemning the assaults.

Over the weekend, eight Leicestershire officers were punched, spat at and bitten with one of the attacks allegedly taking place at a ‘murder mystery’ event.

Tiff said: “These sort of incidents show just the sort of dangers our members face when trying to protect the communities they serve. Each one is completely unacceptable and we will be seeking prosecutions against those who have been taken into custody for what they have done.

“The Police Federation’s national Protect the Protectors campaign was launched to show that we will no longer be thought of as society’s punch bags. We will not stand by and see these sort of assaults on our officers be viewed as simply ‘part of the job’. Those days are long gone.

“An assault on one of our members is an assault on society.”

Leicestershire’s Chief Constable Simon Cole announced earlier this year that he would be writing personal statements to courts which hear cases against those accused of assaulting his officers.

Referring to the violent cases over the weekend in the county, he tweeted: “It cannot be acceptable. Leicestershire Police Federation is right, we must protect the protectors.”

Mr Cole was also interviewed on BBC Radio Leicester about the assaults.

Man charged with assault.