Question On Notice No. 522 asked in the Legislative Council on 7 December 2017 by Hon Peter Collier
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Police
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
(1) How many people have been charged with assaulting a public officer in the course of their duties, for each month from January 2016 to December 2017 inclusive?
(2) Of those in (1), how many were police officers for each month from January 2016 to December 2017 inclusive?
(3) How many people have been charged with assaulting a police officer, with the officer suffering bodily injury, that attracts a mandatory minimum sentence for each month from January 2016 to December 2017 inclusive?
Answered on 13 March 2018
The Western Australian Police Force advise the following:
(1) The number of accused persons charged with an ‘Assault of a public officer’ offence in 2016 are ninety-eight in January, seventy-three in February, seventy-five in March, seventy-seven in April, eighty-seven in May, eighty-three in June, eighty in July, seventy-six in August, sixty-five in September, ninety-five in October, ninety-one in November, one hundred and four in December, while in 2017 there are one hundred and six in January, seventy-nine in February, ninety-eight in March, seventy-eight in April, one hundred and six in May, ninety-eight in June, sixty-six in July, eighty in August, eighty-eight in September, seventy-one in October, ninety-seven in November, and no figures are yet available for December.
(2) These charges do not differentiate between 'Public Officers' and 'Police Officers'.
(3) Data on sentencing and court outcomes should be sought from the Department of Justice as the agency responsible for this information.
Statistics are provisional and subject to revision. Statistics exclude charges where the associated brief or case has been deleted or where security caveats are in place. The offences of ‘Assault Person Aiding a Public Officer’ and ‘Assault Public Officer – Canine’ have not been included in these figures.