Updated: A POLICEMAN sustained a broken arm and another had his jaw fractured, when they were assaulted in York city centre.
Both officers were taken to York Hospital after the attacks, which occurred in separate incidents. One officer was kicked in the face while he tried to detain two people allegedly resisting arrest in the Punch Bowl pub, in Blossom Street, suffering a broken jaw.
He had been called to reports of a fight at about 10.40pm on Saturday, when the incident happened, his colleagues revealed yesterday. Two Knaresborough men, aged 19 and 49, have been arrested and bailed. Details of the other attack, which happened on Friday, were not known last night.
North Yorkshire Police Federation (NYPF), which represents rank and file officers, said such attacks were rare, but said Government funding cuts could make them more common, although force bosses said officer levels were adequate over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Sergeant Mike Stubbs, of the Federation, said: “The injuries these officers have suffered highlight the very real threats that police officers across the county face.
“Thankfully, incidents of police officers being seriously injured remain relatively rare, but this weekend’s events follow an incident in May in Harrogate where an officer suffered serious head injuries and another in Malton over the Christmas period where an officer suffered a fractured eye socket.”
Sgt Stubbs said frontline police officers had been taken off the street over the Bank Holiday weekend to do custody duties because of a shortage of detention officers, and said: “That is already the reality of what cuts mean in North Yorkshire.”
North Yorkshire Police officers were also helping the Metropolitan Police at the Notting Hill Carnival in London.
Sgt Stubbs said: “Our concern is that as the number of officers around the country fall, these types of incidents are going to become more frequent.”
He said forces would also call on each other for support more frequently, impairing their ability to deal with large events.
Anne McIntosh, MP for Thirsk, Malton and Filey, condemned attacks on officers and called for severe punishments. She said: “The police are here to protect us, so it is effectively an attack on you or me.”
On the cuts, Miss McIntosh said it was for each Chief Constable to make the best use of their resources, but said the Government wanted the focus to be on front line support.
Iain Spittal, who was yesterday announced as the new Temporary Assistant Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, said the force strove to minimise risks through training and tactics. But he said injuries did sometimes occur in violent situations.
He said: “Our best wishes, of course, go to the two seriously injured officers. We wish them a speedy recovery and are supporting them so they can get back to doing what they do best.”
He said the force had carried out a full risk assessment and profiled the likely demand to ensure appropriate resources were in place over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Mr Spittal said assessment took into consideration the requirement for North Yorkshire Police to send officers to support the Metropolitan Police during the Notting Hill Carnival, but said staffing levels were always maintained on the ground here in North Yorkshire.
On the issue of officers covering custody duties, he said: “We can confirm that this occurred on three occasions over the weekend as a response to short notice absences.
“At no time during this period did the level of resourcing fall below that needed to meet the anticipated demand.”
He said initial data showed there were 72 fewer crimes on the first two days of the Bank Holiday weekend than on the same days last year (226 compared with 298).
Cuts must not harm policing
OF LATE there has been a worrying trend by some to treat police officers with contempt. Last month’s riots brought sickening scenes into our living rooms of a society where a small number think it acceptable to take the law into their own hands.
Unsurprisingly, when police numbers on the street increased, the violence ceased overnight. And there’s the rub. It concerns us that officers in York have reportedly been taken off the beat to perform custody duty because the city has a shortage of detention officers.
North Yorkshire police claim this, and other commitments, show the force has been overstretched. The Police Federation also says it has concerns over cutbacks, which it believes led to two officers being hospitalised with serious injuries in York at the weekend. Officers should not be taken off frontline duties to perform back-office tasks, but we are not convinced it has anything to do with the injuries sustained at the weekend. When streets are risky, they need to be policed and, sadly, the risks are part of the job.
Still, the Government has assured us that cuts will make no noticeable difference to police presence on the streets.
The Federation in North Yorkshire is clearly unconvinced about that and its claims today do suggest cracks may be starting to appear.
We need substantial reassurance from the authorities that the cuts the police are undergoing really can be implemented without damage to frontline policing.
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