OPERATION HAMPSHIRE


OFFICER ASSAULTS: ‘We’ve now got the tools to tackle these head-on’


Andrew Gold talks to the Operation Hampshire team at the Metropolitan Police who are ensuring officers get proper support when they are assaulted and also aiming to see every single perpetrator held to account.


OPERATION HAMPSHIRE: The Met facts


■ 7,000 assaults in last year ■ 2,000 instances of hate abuse


■ Estimated under-reporting of assaults: 30 per cent


■ Kicking is the most recorded type of assault


■ Most assaults on those with less than two years’ service


N


ational Federation Chair John Apter helped establish an innovative seven-point plan to


tackle the growing issue of assaults on officers and staff in his days as Hampshire branch chair. Hampshire was the first force to


coordinate an approach, under Chief Constable Andy March, to make sure assaults were properly investigated,


Detective Sergeant Rob Richards (left) and Inspector Stuart Kohring outside New Scotland Yard


victims were fully supported, and justice could be done in the courts. Such was the success of the scheme,


the UK’s largest force decided to get in on the act. In a nod to the original creators, the Metropolitan Police even went as far as naming its version “Operation Hampshire”. Set up in the Met by Chief Inspector


Dave Brewster in 2016, the Operation Hampshire team encouraged colleagues to consider personal impact and not just injury. They set about changing the culture to ensure every officer and member of staff felt supported and cared for, and received the support and justice they fully deserved. The priority was to ensure offenders


DS Rob Richards at work 16 I POLICE I OCTOBER 2021


were held to account and did not get away with assaults. To accomplish this, they found it was imperative to get the investigation and evidence right and to work closer with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to understand why some cases failed. With strong support from the


Commissioner, confidence in Op Hampshire has risen 34 per cent in the last two years. Such has been its success that the team recently picked up a prestigious Oscar Kilo Award in the “Protecting The Workplace” category. Inspector Stuart Kohring is the Met


Police’s lead on Op Hampshire and works closely with colleague DS Rob Richards who is responsible for the criminal justice side. He recalled: “In 2019, Deputy Assistant


Commissioner Laurence Taylor reviewed Operation Hampshire and, although it was a success, he realised it was still not “being adopted uniformly across the Met.


“My role is to look at why we don’t get 100 per cent justice.”


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