KEVIN McDONALD
FIELD REPORT
Field Officer
Charge offenders who discharge at officers MOST POLICE OFFICERS would agree one of the most disgusting and degrading features of doing the job on the frontline is when a member of the public spits on them. This usually occurs in the circumstances of a physical arrest when offenders are reacting violently and aggressively. Spitting occurs before, during or after an arrest, and even when semi-controlled with handcuffs, offenders often resort to projecting saliva towards officers, sometimes striking them in their mouths, eyes, ears, necks or other exposed areas.
The primary occupational health and safety consideration is whether the offender is carrying an infectious disease at the time of spitting, and it was on this basis the WA Police Union fought long and hard to achieve mandatory testing legislation, which became law in Western Australia in 2014. Whether they have a transmissible disease or not, offenders spitting at officers is regularly accompanied by suggestions or threats they do have such a condition and are deliberately trying to infect coppers by projecting saliva towards them. The next concern is the revolting nature of the offence. Some years ago, a Queensland-based officer reacted to an offender spitting on them by punching the culprit in their face. Commenting to media about the incident, Ian Leavers APM, President of the Queensland Police Union, said the officer’s retaliation was an instant reaction, one he’d done himself when he’d been spat on in the line of duty. Officers aren’t punching bags, and they certainly aren’t spittoons.
Spitting in the face of an officer, unless it carries with it a transmissible disease, falls outside the strict definition of what constitutes a prescribed circumstance, and therefore, doesn’t apply when sentencing offenders.
Mandatory sentencing for police assaults (prescribed circumstances) was another piece of legislation we fought long and hard to achieve after putting up with years of soft sentencing by the courts. To what extent the deterrent effect of assaults in prescribed circumstances legislation has had is arguable, but our in-house research shows a decline in attacks since the legislation came in. Still, there’s a concerning regularity of spitting assault offences committed against frontline police and auxiliary officers working in detention. In the two years leading to May 2021, there were 146 officers spat upon at an average rate of 6.1 a month. That’s almost three a fortnight. Spitting in the face of an officer, unless it carries with it a transmissible disease, falls outside the strict definition of what constitutes a prescribed circumstance, and therefore, doesn’t apply when sentencing offenders. Spitting in the face of an officer is highly unlikely to attract a custodial sentence, particularly when left to an unsympathetic judiciary. It was a weak sentencing regime that gave rise to mandatory sentencing, so it’s difficult to imagine a magistrate taking strong action for an offender spitting in the face of an officer. Also, it’s worth noting magistrates got their collective, metaphorical noses out of joint when mandatory sentencing first appeared.
Due to the rapidity and inherent danger associated with the spread of COVID-19, in recent months, the Commissioner of Police forced unvaccinated officers to wear face masks throughout their shifts. The CoP’s directive was purpor tedly implemented to protect the WA community despite there being little or no community spread of the virus. Meanwhile, potentially infected offenders were free to continue spitting in the face of officers with no greater punishment apparent. If COVID-19 were to commence spreading in the community of WA, it’d be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a spit by an offender in the face of an officer was the cause of a subsequent infection or the cause of infection spread to potentially countless others. What wouldn’t be impossible to prove is the act of spitting. I’d argue there was a strong case for spitting’s inclusion in the prescribed circumstances provision before COVID-19, but now, in the age of the Omicron variant of the virus, there’s a sharp increase in the need to deter offenders and protect frontline officers from this disgusting act. The best way to do this is to legislate spitting at police as an Assault Public Officer offence in prescribed circumstances.
25 POLICE NEWS MARCH 2022
