OFFICERS forced to patrol alone are at higher risk of violence, a new study by the Police Federation of England and Wales has found.

The study, carried out with the University of Nottingham, surveyed more than 11,000 officers from 43 forces, and found officers who were often or always single crewed had “significantly elevated odds” of being subjected to verbal insults and threats, physical attacks and injuries requiring medical attention.

North Yorkshire Police said risk assessments were carried out when determining how many officers should patrol together, but while injuries were not frequent, even ‘double crewing’ was no guarantee of safety - last weekend, for example, two PCSOs were in their patrol car when its rear window was shattered by a youth with a drainpipe.

In the study, 73 per cent of officers said they had been ‘single crewed’ in the last 12 months, 71 per cent had been verbally insulted, 55 per cent verbally threatened and 44 per cent had been victim of an unarmed physical attack at least once per month over the preceding 12-month period.

It also found 47 per cent reported having been attacked with a weapon at least once within the last year and 26 per cent had suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention.

Deputy Chief Constable Lisa Winward said: “The safety of our officers and staff is paramount and of utmost importance to us, if we can’t keep our staff and officers safe, then we can’t be effective at keeping the public safe. "The crewing of officers is undertaken based upon thorough risk assessments balanced with the need to provide the most appropriate and efficient use of our assets, including our people."

“Different departments, locations and situations may all warrant a different approach to crewing of staff based upon the likely risks they will face when attending incidents. We are fortunate to be the safest place in England and we suffer very few occasions of serious violence or threat to our staff in comparison with other areas, that said, our officers face dangerous situations every day, and as we have seen recently, face aggression and abuse from a minority.”

Simon Kempton, PFEW lead on operational policing, said: “An officer on their own is more likely to have to resort to a greater level of force to resolve an issue where a double crewed team might be able to use simple arm holds for example. It is less likely that a single crewed officer will stop a suspicious vehicle full of suspects in a remote location at night because of the risk to them. And this then affects the service we provide to the public we serve, meaning only the criminals bene?t."

“Single crewed officers, until Body Worn Video is issued to all, are more susceptible to false complaints or allegations from those who would lie about the police in order to de?ect from their own behaviour or because of simple malice.”