At least 12 police officers are seriously assaulted in Queensland every week, new Queensland Sentencing Council data has revealed.
“A week ago we had an officer at Beenleigh that was deliberately run down by a motorcycle and injured,” Queensland Police Union President Shane Prior said.
“The week before that we had an officer in Beaudesert who was bitten, broke his hand and had his ACL torn off,” he said.
According to the data, less than half of adult offenders are imprisoned for the crime.
When it comes to those under the age of 18, incarceration rates are even lower.
Aggravated serious assault on a police officer carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail, but that only adds to the frustration of the Queensland Police Union, who say the courts aren’t using the tools available to them.
“When was the last time you heard a judiciary officer giving a sanction of 14 years for an assault on a police officer,” Prior said.
“It is simply not good enough.”
“Police don’t deserve to be treated as punching bags by members of society who want to engage in violent acts against them,” Former policeman and academic Terry Goldsworthy said.
The data has led to fresh calls to protect the state’s protectors.
“I think one way of doing that, is by putting forward some suggestions to parliament in the form of a bill exploring the issue of minimum mandatory sentencing,” Goldsworthy said.
