Nearly 4,000 police officers have been injured in the line of duty in the past five years, with almost half sustaining an injury as a result of an assault.
New figures released to Belfast Live by the PSNI under a Freedom of Information request shows the number of injured at work years between January 1 2021 and Dec 31 2025.
The number of PSNI officers who were injured in the line of duty in the last five years stands at 3,778 with 2,039 sustaining injuries as the result of an assault.
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More than 2,000 sustained injuries including bites, fractures, bruises, headaches, cuts and abrasions.
PFNI Chair Liam Kelly told Belfast Live he is appalled by the high number of officers who are assaulted.
He said: “Every year there are additionally a higher number of attacks that thankfully did not result in any physical injuries being reported. The price officers pay for doing their job and safeguarding this entire community is far too high. They are often singled out for brutal, unprovoked and unwarranted attack by thugs.
“Our award-winning ‘Let Them Protect’ campaign in June last year highlighted the extent to which officers are targeted. We said then that nine of our men and women are assaulted every day.
“Thankfully, in the last year that daily total has reduced to around seven a-day. It’s a slight improvement but there’s still a long way to go before we effectively tackle and reverse this worrying trend.”
Mr Kelly added: “These figures remain intolerable and unacceptable. We know there are new sentencing guidelines on the way and it’s imperative they are sufficiently robustly applied by the courts to effectively punish offenders and deter would-be attackers.
“What these figures show is the clear need for a zero-tolerance, no-nonsense approach by the courts and the Department of Justice. We have to call ‘time’ on assaults on officers and we look to our courts and legislators to have our backs.”
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