AN AVERAGE of 44 police officers are assaulted on the streets of Wiltshire every day, according to a new figures from the Police Federation.

The figures, released earlier this week, are a complete contrast to official Government data by the Home Office which shows 75 officers report being assaulted every year.

The numbers come from the Police Federation’s officer demand, capacity and welfare survey for 2015/16, where officers were asked how frequently they experienced events, then using frequency data and assumptions regarding the number of officers in each force, the figures were calculated.

In Wiltshire, the Federation claim the estimated yearly minimum of physical attacks on officers was 16,052.

Of these, 14,183 were unarmed physical attacks while 1,869 were assaults with the use of a deadly weapon. The survey also revealed that there were 377 injuries due to violence.

Wiltshire Police said: “We equip every officer with training and kit to help them carry out their job safely and to the best of their ability; offering them protection when faced with a situation which could put them in harm’s way.

“The injury of one officer, while they go about preventing crime and protecting the public, is one too many – however we always offer the utmost support and care to any officer who has been attacked in the course of their duty, whether they have been injured or not.”

Police and crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Angus Macpherson, added: “The police officers who work to keep the people of Wiltshire and Swindon safe will quite often do so by putting themselves in harm’s way.

“I am full of admiration for the men and women who wear the uniform of Wiltshire Police and who run the risk of being assaulted simply for doing their job.

“On the face of it, this report suggests a marked disparity between the number of assaults on officers which are officially recorded and the number which they have told their Federation about in a survey. That apparent disparity needs to be explored.

“Even a single assault on one of our officers is one assault too many.”

Chief Constable Mike Veale said yesterday: “ I have six e-mails in my inbox notifying me of officers and staff who have been injured in recent days.

"I find my conversations with these officers and staff inspiring but very concerning, as it really does bring in to sharp focus the dangers we face."

Data from the Home Office, with information from the health and safety system at each force, found that in Wiltshire, there was only 75 self-reported assaults in addition to 114 assaults on a constable without injury in 2015/16.

The Federation admits that because their data is much higher than Home Office figures, it may attract criticism but hope that by working with the government department, more officers will report assaults.

Joe Saunders, secretary of Wiltshire Police Federation, said: “One of the challenges we face is that the reporting of the assaults isn’t as accurate as it should be.

"There are officers that do not wish to come forward with the abuse which they have found to be commonplace with the job.

“But that is not how it should be and we want to appeal for officers to come forward.

“From the Wiltshire perspective, we do accept we live in a very safe place and part of that is down to the police.

“It is important that we look after those people who are there to protect us.

“We are trying to echo the commissioner’s message that one assault is one assault too many.”

Nationally, the federation’s welfare survey data found that there were potentially more than two million unarmed physical assaults on officers over a 12 month period with a further 302,842 assaults using a deadly weapon during the same time.