Assaults on Met Police officers rise by 37% in past three months fuelled by scuffles during protests, illegal music events and coughing attacks linked to Covid-19
- Scotland Yard recorded 2,027 attacks on its officers between May and July
- Black Lives Matter demonstrations in London left some police officers injured
- Data shows that in the 12 months from August 2019, 6,668 officers were attacked
Assaults on Metropolitan Police officers increased by more than a third in the past three months, Britain’s biggest force has revealed.
Scotland Yard recorded 2,027 attacks on its officers between May and July, a rise of 37 per cent from the 1,475 in the same months last year.
Top brass have blamed the rise on scuffles during police busts of illegal raves over lockdown, spitting attacks linked to Covid-19 and violent flare-ups during protests.
June was memorable for Black Lives Matter demonstrations in London, which saw clashes with police that left constables injured.
Assaults on Metropolitan Police officers increased by more than a third in the past three months. Pictured: A police officer receives medical attention during a Black Lives Matter protest in London on June 7
June was memorable for Black Lives Matter demonstrations in London, which saw clashes with police that left constables injured
One striking picture showed medics outside Downing Street tending to an officer with blood pouring from his head.
Data shows that in the 12 months from August 2019, 6,668 officers were attacked – a 16 per cent rise on the previous year – 42 per cent of whom were injured.
The Met has also seen a rise in the monthly number of assaults. Between June 2019 and April 2020, the average per month was 510, but there were 676 in May this, 717 in June and 634 in July.
The latest assault saw an officer thrown against a wall and knocked out as he tried to make an arrest in Hackney, north-east London.
A man was throwing glasses and hurling abuse in a pub on Mare Street shortly before 5pm on Tuesday, and shoved the officer into a wall. He was taken to hospital for treatment of a cut to his head.
A 46-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion on criminal damage and assaulting a police officer.
Chief Inspector Dave Brewster, who leads the Met’s Operation Hampshire which focuses on officer assaults, said: ‘It is clear that assaults on police officers and staff are increasing year on year and the impact this has on our profession cannot and should not be underestimated.
Scotland Yard recorded 2,027 attacks on its officers between May and July, a rise of 37 per cent from the 1,475 in the same months last year. Pictured: A firework is set off as clashes take place between police officers and Black Lives Matter demonstrators in Whitehall, London, on June 7
‘Assaults should never be seen as “part of the job” and officers should be able to go about their work without fear of abuse or attack.’
It comes as a policewoman was stabbed in the face with a pen while making an arrest in London on Sunday.
The Metropolitan Police said the woman was taken to hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening after the assault in Edgware, north London.
Police found and Tasered the 39-year-old male suspect in a garden where the attack happened later that morning.
In a statement issued to MailOnline during the Black Lives Matter in June, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Cressida Dick (pictured), said the violence against officers came from a ‘minority of protesters’
A series of attacks on officers have been seen across London over the last few weeks, including a Mohim Hussain allegedly stabbing a policeman in West Kilburn last month.
In a statement issued to MailOnline during the Black Lives Matter in June, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Cressida Dick, said the violence against officers came from a ‘minority of protesters’.
But said she was ‘deeply saddened and depressed’ by it.
She said: ‘The number of assaults is shocking and completely unacceptable.