Concern at huge rise in attacks on firefighters
THERE has been a huge rise in attacks on firefighters in Greater Manchester.
New Home Office figures show 89 incidents have been recorded this year alone, compared to 51 throughout the whole of 2016. It represents a worrying 75 per cent rise far more than the national average.
The figures show that nationally an 18.6 per cent increase in attacks on firefighters was recorded between April 2016 and March this year - equating to a staggering 738 incidents.
Types are recorded as harassment, objects being thrown at firefighters or fire engines, verbal abuse, physical abuse and other acts of aggression. of attack
Nationally the majority of incidents - 403 involved verbal abuse. There were 206 incidents of objects being thrown, 44 cases of physical abuse, 18 incidents of harassment and 64 ‘other acts of aggression’.
The incidents resulted in 56 injuries, with four of them classed as serious and requiring a hospital stay.
The Manchester borough has experienced the largest increase in attacks on firefighters, followed by Wigan and Salford, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said.
The figures were revealed after a spate of attacks on firefighters on and around Bonfire Night this month - including one incident witnessed by Mayor Andy Burnham himself.
But as legislation goes through Parliament to introduce a new offence of assaulting an emergency worker, the Fire Brigades Union said it doesn’t believe body-worn cameras are the answer.
The union said it believes anti-social behaviour reduces when firefighters engage with communities, but ‘drastic cuts’ to firefighter numbers means there is ‘insufficient personnel to carry out this important work’.
Dave Green, national officer of the FBU, said turning firefighters into ‘virtual law-enforcers’ would have a ‘significant impact on how they are perceived’. Firefighters wearing cameras to ‘catch criminals’ just isn’t how our members want to work,” he said.
“There is no evidence that this would reduce attacks. In fact there is a fear cameras could exacerbate attacks. We would prefer to increase our engagement with young people through targeted community initiatives.”
Beverley Hughes, the deputy mayor for policing and crime in Greater Manchester, said: “To have our hard-working fire crews attacked almost 90 times in 11 months is dreadful – it endangers lives, frustrates firefighters and prevents our fire and rescue service from doing its job. GMFRS fully endorses the measures outlined in the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill 2017-19 to both protect firefighters and prosecute those who put emergency service personnel in harm’s way.”