832 days lost at Greater Manchester Police due to assaults on officers - Alcock

11.24.00pm GMT Fri 20th Mar 2009

Greater Manchester police

Greater Manchester Police lost 832 working days in a single year because of assaults on their officers, new figures reveal.

Oldham West & Royton Parliamentary spokesperson Mark Alcock, said: "Violence against police officers is totally unacceptable. Police officers are clearly not being provided with the protection that they need to do their jobs.

"Current measures are clearly not effective enough as 832 days are lost because of attacks on Greater Manchester's Police officers.

"There must be zero tolerance on attacks, abuse and threats of violence and this means prosecuting the offenders and putting them through the courts.

"The Government must do more to ensure the safety of police officers in what is already a very challenging working environment."

Figures show that 34 forces lost a total of 15,338 officer working days due to assaults in the latest year for which figures are available.

Greater Manchester was the fourth most badly hit force in the country, after the Metropolitan Police, with 5,848 days lost, followed by West Midlands (1,166) and Northumbria (1,075). The figures were released in a written parliamentary answer from Policing Minister Vernon Coaker.