A POLICE chief says his officers are being spat at, threatened and suffering broken bones – just for doing their job of protecting the public.

Chief Supt Rob O’Connor says it is “increasingly often” that police are subjected to assaults or threats.

He was speaking after new figures from the Home Office showed that police officers in Cumbria faced more than 280 assaults last year.

The statistics revealing the violence emerged ahead of a new law aiming to crack down on those abusing emergency workers.

Chief Supt O’Connor said: “It is increasingly often that our officers, who go to work to protect the public, are subjected to assault or threats.

“Day in, day out I see my officers being threatened, spat at and in some cases they suffer broken bones.

“Nobody deserves to be a victim of assault and this includes police officers and staff, and also colleagues from other emergency services.”

The figures show that between April 2017 and March 2018, 281 assaults against officers were recorded by Cumbria Police.

Of those, 65 caused injury.

It is the first time that assaults causing injury to police officers have been recorded separately.

Assault against an officer without injury is recorded as a distinct offence.

Numbers have been published since 2015-16, and they show an increase in recent years.

In 2017-18, 216 offences were recorded, 31 per cent more than in 2015-16.

In a bid to tackle the situation, the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill will be passed into law this autumn.

Under it, the fact that assaults are committed against emergency workers will be taken into account when sentencing offenders, potentially leading to tougher sentences.

The Police Federation – the organisation representing rank-and-file officers – has hailed the introduction of the new law, saying that officers should not have to consider assault “just part of the job”.

“This is welcome news," said Chief Supt O’Connor. “I hope that the new law introduced can help prevent further officers from being assaulted in the line of their duty, as offending against them cannot and will not be tolerated.”

Martin Plummer, chairman of the Police Federation in Cumbria, said: “Violence against anyone in the emergency services, be it police, paramedics, nurses, is unnecessary and unacceptable.

“Our stance is quite simple – there is no excuse for any violence to any member of the emergency services.

“Our police officers put themselves in harm’s way to help support the communities they are dealing with.

“The officers should not, in any way shape or form, be expected to be punched, kicked, slapped or spat at while doing their jobs.

“They should never be put in fear of any violence - whether that’s through words or behaviour.”

Across England and Wales, 72 assaults on police officers took place every day in 2017-18.

John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation, said that these numbers are still likely to under-represent the scale of the problem.

He said: “This is an issue I feel passionately about and I have long campaigned to have it addressed.

“Any attack on a police officer is unacceptable.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s leading officer on wellbeing is Chief Constable Andy Rhodes. He said: “Colleagues suffer not only physical injuries, but the psychological effects.

“Many find the return to frontline duties after being assaulted particularly challenging or traumatic.

“We are optimistic that the Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill, when introduced, will go some way to protecting our staff.”