A petition on the UK Government official petitions website calls for assaulting a security worker to become a stand-alone criminal offence, similar to how other emergency service workers are protected by the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018.
The guarding contractor Kingdom Security is backing the petition, as supported by the Security Industry Federation and the S12 group of contract guard company chiefs, calling on the Government to introduce extra legislative protection for security workers.
Graham Allison, Chief Services Officer of Kingdom Security, described it as the right thing to do. He said: “The petition calls for fairness, safety and recognition. As crimes against people and property becomes increasingly brazen, security officers are on the frontline in the fight against everyday crime. They are protecting others every day, and many face serious verbal and physical abuse from members of the public – they undoubtedly deserve the same legal protections as other frontline professionals.”
Kingdom, a member of the ACS Pacesetters group of highest-scoring SIA-approved contractors, employs thousands of security officers across retail, ports, concierge and front of house, fire warden officers, and mobile patrol.
“We employ dedicated, hard-working and passionate security colleagues that care about protecting the public, and they do this day in and day out. We also want more people to see the industry as a great place to work, and if this legislation comes in there is no doubt the industry will become more accessible, and we’ll see more and more people want to start their career in security.”
Some background
Once the petition reaches 10,000 signatures, the government must issue a formal response. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament. Kingdom is also encouraging supporters to back the work of the S12 Committee, which is leading efforts to drive meaningful legislative change for the security industry. More about the workstream addressing this issue can be found at www.securityleaders.co.uk/workstreams.
Visit: https://www.kingdom.co.uk/petition-to-protect-security-workers.
Police
Meanwhile a full and accurate picture of the scale of assaults on police is not known, ‘due to problems with the collection of data’, according to an annual report on the Home Office’s Police Covenant, an equivalent of the Armed Forces Covenant. The document suggests 42,000 ‘incidents’ a year against police across England and Wales. The document acknowledges concerns raised by the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) and others ‘around suitable support and treatment for retired officers who may have ongoing mental or physical health needs’ as a result of their service. A bespoke Police Assaults and Injuries Reporting App is available to forces, and reports are increasing. Commissioning of police-aware healthcare ‘is being progressed’, according to the document.
Photo by Mark Rowe: Leeds railway station; security officers walk to the gateline.
