A VICIOUS attack on an occupied police car has highlighted the violence emergency workers face.
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Police had been following two cars in Pleasant Street, Redan when they split at a roundabout.
At 2.30am on Monday officers were about to intercept one car when an unknown person entered the road and smashed the car’s windows with a metal pole. Ballarat Police Inspector Bruce Thomas said violence toward police was a concern for both police and the wider community.
“Nobody wants to be injured at work,” Inspector Thomas said.
He said all staff were aware of the Zero Harm policy with members trained to take as many as precautions as possible.
Former Creswick police officer Gary Chandler said violence towards police “was a constant concern for the current police”.
”You can’t predict people’s behaviour they can be quite calm and then (switch),” Mr Chandler said.
“Police are not punching bags.”
The recent attack comes as the Ambulance Employees Australia Victoria ramps up its campaign for higher penalties for people who abuse emergency workers, after it was revealed a paramedic gets attacked every day in Victoria.
Association assistant secretary Danny Hill said paramedics were often exposed to violent drug-affected patients and were kicked in the face, punched in the stomach and abused regularly.He said extreme violence was linked to a high level of burn-out among paramedics.
“It’s major problem for paramedics and one of the big things our members deal with,” Mr Hill said.
He said paramedics often entered situations where they “did not have the full picture”. This meant paramedics were not able to be prepared for patients who were drug or alcohol-affected.
“There is a lot of manipulation, someone might call for a friend on parole so there are paramedics who go out to scene where they should have a police escort,” Mr Hill said.
“Paramedics would only have to be exposed (to violence) once or twice in their career to turn them off,” Mr Hill said.
Violence toward emergency staff is not limited to police and paramedics.
A man who bit a doctor treating him after a single car collision in Ballarat had a blood alcohol reading five times the legal limit, a court heard last week. Police are still appealing for witnesses over the Pleasant Street attack. Contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
