Assaults on police on the rise in Mid West-Gascoyne as police union calls for school-based police officers

The WA Police Union is calling for action from the State Government, including basing police officers in schools, as it says violence against police is only getting worse in the Mid West and throughout WA. Thirteen police officer were assaulted in the Mid West-Gascoyne in the first three months of 2023, according to data from the union, an increase from the first quarter of 2022 when 11 officers were assaulted. It is a problem the union says has been worsening for six years — in 2017 one assault against an officer was recorded in the first quarter in the Mid West-Gascoyne and four in 2018. The trend has been seen on a State-level as well, with 232 officers across WA assaulted in the first quarter of 2023, up from 159 in the March quarter of 2022 and 77 in 2017. Among the main injuries from these assaults, 20 per cent have caused a foreign body injury, such as being spat on, and 13 per cent have caused an open wound injury. In a statement released on Monday, WA Police Union acting president Paul Gale said he had written to Premier Mark McGowan, calling for more attention to be given. Among a list of measures, Mr Gale said there should be police officers installed in WA schools to address a “rise in anti-authority attitudes” by exposing children to police at young ages. The school-based police officer system was ended in 2001 in WA, but the union president said it should reinstated. “School-based police officers are not just about tackling crime. They’re about building rapport and humanising officers in the eyes of young people,” Mr Gale said. The union has also called for the Department of Justice to carry out a study into factors which contribute to assaults on police, and have 50 more police officers brought into youth liaison roles at PCYCs. “The Government must put the ‘P’ back into ‘PCYC’ and ensure that there is a regular and visible presence of police officers at these clubs. Otherwise, they’re just another — albeit well-functioning — community centre,” Mr Gale said.