Video: The impact of violence against police officers

Watch the video here, or in the player at the bottom of the page: https://youtu.be/XTbYZiL9CYc 

On average, there are 24 assaults against police officers and staff per month in Warwickshire.

The video shows the impact of one such assault, which took place against two officers from the Nuneaton Safer Neighbourhood Team on a late-night shift earlier this year.

The assault took place after the officers pulled a driver over for speeding on a country road.

On 2 May 2024, Anthony Wilde, 34 of Stratford Avenue in Atherstone, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm, driving without insurance, and failing to provide a specimen for a breathalyser test on request.

Assaults on police officers have real physical and psychological impacts on the officers they happen to, which can lead to sickness absences as officers recover.

This has a knock-on effect of making them unavailable to protect the public over this time, as well as having profound impacts on the families and friends of the officers involved.

Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith said “Police officers are people, first and foremost – they are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters; they have family members and friends who care for them and worry about them.

“Violence against officers is not acceptable for the same reasons that violence against anyone else is not acceptable. It is not just part of the job.

“Thank you to the officers who were interviewed for this video for coming forward to tell their story – a story that too many of our officers can relate to on a personal level – so that the public we serve can hear it too.”

For more information: https://www.warwickshire.police.uk/news/warwickshire/news/2024/may/two-sentenced-following-assaults-on-police-officers/