SINCE the start of 2019, 27 police officers have been assaulted in Bracknell and Wokingham.

Across the Thames Valley, 404 officers were assaulted in the same period – meaning incidents in Bracknell and Wokingham accounted for less than seven per cent of the overall number.

These stats came from John Campbell, Thames Valley Police Chief Constable, who told Bracknell Forest councillors about the force’s work in the past year at a meeting on Wednesday (September 11).

READ MORE: Council spends thousands on 'slug' bench

However, Mr Campbell said these figures could now be higher as Thames Valley Police (TVP) are yet to update their records for the last quarter.

It was also revealed 129 officers have been spat at across the Thames Valley since 2019, with seven of these officers being spat at in Bracknell and Wokingham.

Mr Campbell said he had prepared this presentation before the death of PC Andrew Harper, who lost his life in Sulhamstead last month.

He added: “Andrew’s death brought a sharp focus – there was also an incident in the Metropolitan Police area where an officer was stabbed, and another officer was run over in the West Midlands.”

Councillor Ian Leake quizzed Mr Campbell about what is being done to give offenders tougher sentences and what is being done to protect officers.

Mr Campbell responded: “We’re looking at the kind of training we give our officers, working with the courts as well to make sure we’ve got consistency in our approach, looking at sentencing and making sure we give protection to our own officers to stop it happening in the first place.

READ MORE: Leisure centre's big plans to tackle cleanliness issues

“We acknowledge that policing sometimes means police officers will be assaulted.

“It is acknowledged that policing has some aspects of physical threat and violence.

“It shouldn’t be accepted.”

Mr Campbell spoke about a number of other issues ongoing in the Thames Valley and in Bracknell and Wokingham, including an overall rise in crime figures.

NOW READ: Police launch campaign to keep knives off streets

However, he said this rise could be because of a new way TVP records crime – the authority now records multiple offences as multiple offences, rather than just one.