A senior Suffolk police officer has said he is “appalled” that eight officers have been injured after being assaulted in the line of duty over the Christmas period.
Detective Chief Inspector David Henderson said attacks on members of the Constabulary were ‘completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated’ after an officer required hospital treatment following two break-ins in Felixstowe on Christmas Day.
Police were called to several reports of a burglary at Gorgeous Jewels and Boreham Christopher, which are next door to each other in Hamilton Road, at 11pm on Christmas Day.
A police spokesman said when officers arrived they found that the windows had been smashed and that a suspect was inside one of the stores.
Police and members of the public helped detain the suspect.
Officers were assaulted during the incident but were not seriously injured and the suspect was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
It comes after a number of other officers were injured during other incidents and Sgt Ali Livingstone said he could not remember a Christmas where so many officers had been assaulted.
He said: “Whether it is going worse or not in terms of the level of violence, I don’t really know, but I can’t recall it being this bad over a Christmas period where we have had as many officers assaulted or injured, and requiring hospital treatment.
“That’s unprecedented, from my perspective. It’s difficult to speculate about the causes.
“The intoxication is certainly one of them. That is a common theme which runs through.
“But I don’t honestly know, and I’ve been in the job for 17 years.
“Things do fluctuate. But I can’t put my finger on it.
“The difficult part is, those colleagues then go home to their families and they have got visible injuries: bumps and bruises, bandages, and at this time of year, that is distressing for families, particularly if they have got children.”
Detective Chief Inspector David Henderson added: “In our line of duty we deal with some very challenging incidents, and I am appalled to hear that officers have suffered injuries while trying to maintain the safety of local people and communities. We would like to thank the public for their well wishes and support for the officers involved and we all wish them a speedy recovery.”
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