It is not enough just to punish those who attack our brave officers – we must restore respect for rule of law
IN MY first week as Home Secretary, I had the honour of attending the Police Bravery Awards after meeting many of the nominees at Downing Street earlier that day.
I spoke that evening about the selfless dedication of those officers who, even in the most dangerous situations, put their own lives at risk to keep the rest of us safe.
Sadly, the officers who serve communities know the risks of being assaulted.
They never shirk that threat, but that is no reason for the rest of us to accept the violence they are facing, with 125 assaults on police officers reported every day last year.
We cannot turn this round overnight but we can end the apathy which the previous government had towards this issue.
It is a stain on our society and those responsible must pay the price.
But it is not enough just to punish those who attack our police.
We must also change the mindset which makes that behaviour possible.
That starts with tackling the unacceptable culture of abuse towards our police officers, and restoring respect for the rule of law.
We need to get thousands more officers back on the beat, and restore the trust that should exist between the police and local communities.
Of course that also means holding our police to the highest standards, but when our brave officers are out there on our streets, we will back them to protect the public, and themselves.
For putting their lives on the line for us every day, that is the least they deserve.