Another wave of law and order measures is upon us. The latest measure proposed is a change to the Sentencing Act so that assaulting a police or prison officer becomes an aggravating factor in sentencing.
The number of assaults on police officers and prison guards has steadily increased over the years. But during those years the number of serving police and prison officers also increased. If you increase police officer and prison guard numbers serving, then, all other things being equal, you ought to expect more assaults.
So if assaulting a police or prison officer is to become an aggravating factor in sentencing, the result could be more people being in jail for longer. If our prison population increases further we will need to increase the number of prison officers. The potential result? More assaults. Unless you believe that the new law will act as a deterrent. But we have seen that, despite the number of "get tough" measures introduced by successive governments, our streets are no safer than they were ten years ago. The evidence suggests that, in relation to violent crime, deterrence does not really work.
The question nobody seems to be asking politicians is this: has the per-officer rate of assaults increased? And if it hasn't, why are we passing this law?
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