2010 press releases

23rd Feb: Norman Baker: Sussex bobbies have missed 1,600 working days in five years - because of assaults

Local MP Norman Baker has today backed the Lib Dems' plans to put more police officers on the streets of Sussex, after figures unveiled by the Lib Dems showed that police officers in the area have missed 1,592 working days in the last five years after being assaulted by members of the public.

Last year, there was an increase of more than 19% in the number of working days missed because of assault compared with the previous year - 329 days were missed in 2008/09 compared with 276 in 2007/08. A further 25 working days were missed in the past three years by other Sussex police staff as a result of assaults.

The Lib Dems have guaranteed an additional £575 million for police recruitment in England and Wales, which will allow an additional 3,000 police officers to be employed across the country.

Norman Baker commented:

"These startling figures show just how difficult being a police officer can be. It is clear that violence remains all too common across Sussex when hundreds of police working days are being lost every year as officers recover from assaults.

"The Lib Dems are the only party to have committed to increasing police numbers. We will provide an additional 3,000 police officers across the country, and local areas in Sussex will benefit from our plans.

"We must also make every effort to get injured officers back to work where we need them - on our streets - as quickly as possible, even if that means lighter duties or paperwork."

Number of police officer working days lost in Sussex due to assaults from 2004-05 to 2008-09:

Year	Police officers	Other police staff
2004/05	544	0
2005/06	334	0
2006/07	109	17
2007/08	276	8
2008/09	329	0
Total	1592	25

Total increase 07-08 to 08-09 - 19.2%

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