THE States police chief has condemned assaults on officers carrying out their duty as ‘unacceptable’, after revealing that they have been spat on more than 40 times in the past three years.
Robin Smith said that there had been 130 assaults on officers over that period, describing it as a ‘growing concern’.
Mr Smith has called for more education to make sure Islanders understand that this is not acceptable behaviour.
Spitting incidents have increased since 2019, with three officers being spat on in that year, 12 in 2020 and 21 in 2021.
Mr Smith said: ‘The increase coincides with the pandemic. It is not just about the pandemic, there are a number of other infectious diseases officers could catch from it. It is utterly disgusting and appalling.
‘It is not acceptable in any situation. If there are suggestions of spitting at a sporting event, there is utter disgust and it should be the same if it’s to a police officer, a firefighter or even a doctor trying to treat a patient.’
He added: ‘There is a growing concern about the number of assaults on police officers who are executing their duty on behalf of Islanders, particularly the propensity of spitting at officers.’
There have been a number of recent convictions for assaulting a States police officer or someone in a position of authority.
Earlier this month, Christopher Henry Hall was jailed for a further eight months after he spat in the faces of four prison officers while at HMP La Moye.
In the same week, Robert Kevin Passman was jailed for five months after he smashed the door of an off-licence and head-butted a States police officer.
And last month Lucian-Milha Gora (38) was given 120 hours of community service for spitting in the face of a female police officer.
Mr Smith said he supported the courts, which ‘decide the appropriate punishment’ and ‘take the necessary action’.
‘Officers are citizens in uniform – they are no different to anyone else and experience the same emotion as everyone,’ he said.
‘We make hundreds of arrests every year, a number of those are in confrontational circumstances and can involve intoxication or addiction, sometimes because of mental-health crisis – our job is to deal with that carefully and considerately.
‘There can never be any justification for assaulting a police officer.
‘I am keen to see a reduction in assaults, particularly spitting incidents. So far the numbers are down on 2021 but 43 in the last three years is 43 too many,’ he added.
Mr Smith explained that officers had various personal-protection equipment at their disposal should they be spat on. This could include PAVA spray, spit guards or even a Taser.
However, he said these measures were often used for ‘increased levels of violence’ and that it was difficult to combat spitting due to the spontaneous nature of related incidents.
‘We need to work together in order to prevent this from happening. It is about education and an understanding that this is not acceptable and there is a person on the end of that incident,’ he said.
‘If you were on the receiving end of it, you wouldn’t like it,’ he added.
Mr Smith denied that there was a disregard for authority in the Island.
‘We have a very compliant Island and we are very caring but there is always going to be those flashpoints,’ he said, which was particularly the case on Friday and Saturday nights.
