The state government will press on with plans to introduce mandatory sentencing of people who seriously assault off-duty police.
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Offences against police, including assaults, have increased rapidly in recent times.
The mandatory sentencing plan was blocked in the Legislative Council, but new Police Minister Michael Ferguson confirmed the government would try again.
“We need to protect those who protect us,” Mr Ferguson said.
We need to protect those who protect us.
- Michael Ferguson
“The Hodgman Liberal government makes no apologies for putting strong penalties in place for people who assault members of Tasmania Police.
“We will continue to push legislation for mandatory sentencing against those who assault off-duty police officers, as many of these instances are targeted against officers because of their line of work.”
The government legislated mandatory sentencing for serious assaults of officers who were on duty, but mandatory sentencing has significant opposition in the upper house, and in the legal profession.
Fairfax reported on Tuesday Tasmania Police had recorded 183 assaults of officers between July 1 and February 28.
That was up by nearly 25 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
Offences involving resisting police and threatening, abusing or intimidating them had also spiked.
Criminal Code (more serious) offences against police had doubled to 14.
Seven were alleged Criminal Code assaults and the rest were alleged offences of resisting a police officer.
“Policing is a challenging role and officers should be able to perform their duties without the additional threat of being assaulted,” Assistant Commissioner Richard Cowling said.
“Our officers often respond to incidents that involve personal risk and we need to give them the support and protection to do their job with confidence.”
“Tasmania Police welcomed the amendment to the Sentencing Amendment (Assaults on Police Officers) Bill 2014 for a mandatory minimum sentence of six months’ imprisonment for a person convicted of an offence against an on duty police officer that results in serious bodily harm, unless there are exceptional circumstances.”
He said Tasmania Police was committed to protecting officers and the public by ensuring officers had the training and equipment they needed to perform their duties as safely as possible.