Police Officer Safety and Operation Hampshire
Police officers and staff regularly face confrontation, aggression and abuse. National guidance is clear that being assaulted should not simply be normalised as an occupational inevitability.
What Is Operation Hampshire?
Operation Hampshire is an Oscar Kilo programme providing strategy, processes and guidance to improve the response to assaults and hate crimes against police officers and staff.
Its approach includes accurate reporting, victim care, supervisory support, leadership and recognition of the physical and psychological impact of assaults.
Why Language Matters
Describing assault as “part of the job” can discourage reporting and support-seeking. A police role may carry risk, but accepting risk is not the same as accepting violence as normal or inconsequential.
After an Assault
Serving officers and staff should follow their force’s reporting and welfare process. Oscar Kilo provides national guidance, while Police Care UK may also be able to support people harmed through policing.