Emergency workers will be better protected from violence and abuse when visiting homes as the government introduces new laws to support frontline staff
The new measures, tabled today as amendments to the government’s landmark Crime and Policing Bill, will close an existing loophole that allows people to get away with racial and religious abuse towards police, fire and ambulance workers making house calls.
Currently, it is illegal to racially or religiously abuse anyone in public, but this does not extend to behaviour within a private home.
The gap was originally designed to ensure that the laws that allow police to keep public spaces free from serious disorder did not overstep into private conversations held in homes.
By stopping short of people’s houses, the law has left emergency workers vulnerable and unprotected to racial and religious-based abuse and harassment during house calls, and unable to hold the perpetrators to account for their behaviour.
ADVERTISEMENT: Robinhood: Where Investing Meets Simplicity — Join Now
Reports of emergency workers being abused for their race or religion while in private homes have increased, and the government thinks it is vital they get the protections they deserve as they carry out their vital work to resolve home disputes and provide health care.
By closing the loophole in the Public Order Act 1986, the government is making clear that racially or religiously motivated abuse and threats towards our emergency workers will never be tolerated, regardless of where it takes place.
Under the change, offenders of abusing emergency workers in any setting could face a maximum sentence of 2 years imprisonment.
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said:
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said:
Minister for Fire, Alex Norris said:
Andy Rhodes, Director of the National Police Wellbeing Service, said: