Firemen face catalogue of violence

In the first 11 months of 2009/10, more than 70 incidents of violence were reported by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service staff – an average of 6.9 per month.

Staff were subjected to a catalogue of abuse including physical assaults, aggressive behaviour, verbal and racist abuse across West Yorkshire.

A total of 36 incidents took place in the Bradford district, including seven cases of missiles being thrown at staff, one case of racist abuse, eight incidents of stones being thrown at staff and four cases where fireworks were thrown or fired off.

In Calderdale, there were 12 incidents of violence, seven in Kirklees including two physical assaults, 14 in the Leeds district and six in the Wakefield district.

The figures are part of a performance management and activity report for 2009/10, which will be presented to a meeting of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority tomorrow.

In spite of the range of attacks, incidents have fallen by just under 35 per cent from 2008/9 when the number of cases of violence averaged 10.6 per month.

District commander of Kirklees Keith Robinson, who has worked across West Yorkshire, said: "It is encouraging to see that there has been a drop. However, it is still very, very concerning to have members of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service staff – both operational and community staff – subjected to unnecessary assaults and attacks by members of the public.

"We are there to provide a service to the community of West Yorkshire and are working closely with our partners to obtain zero tolerance and we will prosecute anyone who is identified through the courts.

"Our aim is to achieve a total reduction of 100 per cent next year.

"The assaults range from physical assaults to verbal abuse. It is upsetting because we are there to serve the public not take abuse from them.

"At any incident, our main priority is the safety of the public and our crews. These individuals distract us from doing what we are there to do."

The report said that one attack is one too many.

It claimed that the frequency and severity of the 76 attacks out of 46,646 attendances may seem "insignificant when considering these very small percentages (0.16 per cent overall)".

But the report added: "Although the number of attacks on firefighters has reduced, the Chief Fire Officer has re-emphasised that one attack is one too many and that every assistance and encouragement will be given to the police to bring offenders to court.

"Work is continuing with a variety of agencies from the police and district councils to community groups and youth leaders to address these issues."

In spite of the number of incidents which took place in Bradford, there was a "significant reduction" in the number of attacks towards the end of the year and there were no attacks during December 2009.

The report said that "an excellent start" has been made to 2010 with no attacks reported for January or February.

"However, bad weather almost certainly played a part, so it is important not to be too complacent," it added.

In Bradford, strong links have been forged with the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) and schemes have included a community day held at the city's fire station, organised football tournaments and recruitment awareness days.

The report said: "All have proved to be a great success and have undoubtedly assisted in the district's attempt to drive down occurrences of violence to staff."