The rate of assaults on West Australian police has reached a 10-year high and the force says a dozen officers have been punched, kicked and spat on in just eight weeks in a town in the state's north.
Senior Sergeant and Acting Officer-in-Charge at Karratha Police Station Doug Holt said this was six times the rate in July and August last year — and the month isn't over.
He said police had been bruised and concussed, but the most serious offence was spitting because of the risk to officers' health.
"If it goes in the eye, you have to do mandatory blood testing," he said.
"You could get hepatitis, you could get other forms of bloodborne diseases."
Sergeant Holt said officers must distance themselves from their partners for three months or so after being tested, which is stressful for families.
WA Police Union President, Mick Kelly, said it all took a toll on mental health.
"When they attend these jobs, they're hypervigilant because they don't know where that next whack or spit is going to come from," said Mr Kelly, who described spitting on an officer as "one of the lowest acts that's out there".
"It makes the job unappealing."
Mr Kelly said, sadly, state-wide attrition rates had been high over the past 12 months.
"Coppers who stay in the community become part of the community and it makes it a safer place," he said.
Northern WA a 'hotbed' for assaults
Mr Kelly said assaults on police officers were rising, and said the state-wide rate was the highest it had been in a decade.
He said there had been an 8.7 per cent rise in the past year, which is the fifth consecutive annual increase.
"They do a tough job out there policing, certainly out there in the north west with high crime rates," he said.
The WA Police Union said the state's north remained a "hotbed" for assaults on officers, with the Kimberley, Pilbara, and Mid West-Gascoyne ranking first, third and fifth out of the 15 districts respectively.
Mr Kelly said this was the likely reason union reports showed police in the north west tended to do their "minimum tenure" of two years.
The union said the same districts ranked in the top three for overall offence rates, all having experienced large increases.
It said eight northern WA towns recorded their highest-ever total offence rates in the past 12 months: Broome, Carnarvon, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Kununurra, Mullewa, and Newman.
'No easy answer'
The exact reasons for the climbing assault rates were unknown, but Sergeant Holt said increased drug and alcohol use could be a factor.
"If they're drinking too much, they're not in control of their actions," he said.
Mr Kelly said politicians needed to "step up" when it came to combating substance abuse.
"The government needs to make sure that communities have the relevant programs so these people can be diverted and seek help through the health authorities for their addictions," he said.
He said there needed to be more serious consequences for assaults on police.
"The act of spitting, which sadly is becoming the norm, doesn't actually fall in the definition of bodily harm, so we're looking at harsher penalties as a deterrence," Mr Kelly said.
Sergeant Holt agreed, saying offenders could be jailed for assaulting an officer but were usually just fined.
He said the state government and Police Union's efforts to boost the public's respect for police were not getting through to everyone.
"There's no easy answer," Sergeant Holt said. But his message to the community was simple: "Don't assault public officers".
