Sir Mark Rowley: UK's top cop says two police officers 'seriously injured' weekly, amid falling trust and rising criticism

18 September 2024, 17:37 | Updated: 18 September 2024, 20:18

The thin blue line of policing is being "dangerously stretched" because of a homeless and mental health crisis, racial and religious disharmony, and criminals' use of new technology, according to Britain's top cop.

Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Mark Rowley warned: "These cumulative pressures, amid a context of declining trust in institutions, have seen absolutely unprecedented strain on the police."

And in a swipe at politicians, he said that other public services got far more attention than those who keep law and order.

"In the last 15 years, there have been three strategic defence reviews, countless strategic reviews of elements of the health and social care system, but no government-led strategic review of policing or public safety."

Sir Mark, who has been in his job for two years, said in that time the only long-term strategy for policing had been to try to boost the number of officers with dwindling resources.

He said: "No meaningful investment in capabilities or technology - in fact, capital allocations to policing were reduced to zero, so investment in technology required cutting operational budgets at a time of wider cuts.

"No investment in join-up of absurdly disparate systems and an actual reduction in investment in training and leadership."

The neglect of policing was being mostly heavily felt by officers on the frontline who were being injured every week, said the commissioner in a speech to the Police Foundation.

He said: "I can tell you that daily around 18 of our officers are punched, bitten, racially abused, and worse - around two a week are seriously injured. Including officers such as the two who were attacked with a sword in Hainault in April.

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"And how does society thank them? With insults. I was scrolling through some of the comments beneath posts about the Palestine protests the weekend before last. It happens every time we police mass gatherings - a riot of noise about injustice or bias. The police are 'useless', 'biased', 'pathetic', and even 'shameful'.

"I'll tell you what's shameful: The abuse of our officers and the silence of many in authority. We should be very clear: when people, be they politicians or the public, throw accusations and slurs at the police, they put them in danger by emboldening thugs."

(c) Sky News 2024: Sir Mark Rowley: UK's top cop says two police officers 'seriously injured' weekly, amid falling trust and rising criticism