Verbal and physical abuse of staff (FOI)

Request

Please can you provide me with the following information:

A

Divided into different departments, ie Health and Social Services, Social Security and so on and excluding  States of Jersey Police (SoJP), how times have States of Jersey employees been subjected to verbal abuse by members of the public in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

B

Divided into different departments (excluding SoJP), how times have States of Jersey employees been subjected to physical abuse by members of the public in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

C

Divided into different departments, (excluding SoJP), how times have the States of Jersey police been called to respond to cases of verbal and physical abuse to States of Jersey employees by members of the public in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

D

How many cases have there been of physical and / or verbal abuse by members of the public to States of Jersey Police staff in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

E

Of the cases in A, B, C and D above, how many incidents resulted in criminal convictions.

Response

A to C

Please see the table below of the available reportable data.

It should be noted that information supplied is where incidents have been reported and recorded in a searchable format. There is no requirement for staff to report every incident of verbal or physical abuse therefore the figures supplied cannot be exhaustive. In the majority of departments, incidents of verbal abuse are not recorded.

In relation to the table, the following should be taken into account:

The Department of the Environment

Depending on the severity of the verbal abuse received, the department writes to the offender to explain that their behaviour has been unacceptable. In the event that the offender demonstrates unacceptable behaviour on a second occasion the department will write again advising that should a further event occur they will be placed on a register of Potentially Violent People (PVP Register) and that the Police may be informed of previous and further incidents. The figures provided in the table only represent those cases where an offender has reached the stage of being added to the PVP Register. Consequently the actual number of incidents where a staff member has been subject to verbal / physical abuse is far greater than set out.

The Register is reviewed annually and where there have been no further occurrences of unacceptable behaviour by the individual, their personal data (name, address and so on) is deleted from the PVP Register and all previous warning letters are destroyed.

In addition to the table, please note the following;

Education

Please see the tables below containing the available reportable data.

It should be noted that information supplied is where incidents have been reported and recorded in a searchable format.

Suspension figures for pupils were already provided in a previous Freedom of Information request (FOI) which is available at the following link: 

School Exclusions (FOI)

This response captures any other incidents involving the general public.

In relation to the table, the following should be taken into account: A recent Teacher’s Survey (taken in September 2017) has been published (28 September 2018) in which, of the 49% of responders, 23% reported that they had been verbally abused by a parent in the past year. This survey is available at the following link:

Teachers Survey results released 

With effect from 17 September 2018, schools now report any incidents of abuse by members of the public, other staff and parents via an online form. Information sent via this form will be collated and used for statistical and research and improvement purposes. It may also be shared with other relevant agencies for the purposes of safeguarding.

Health and Social Services

Due to historical recording processes, the Health and Social Services Department is not able to provide the figures for 2015 as the information is not held.

Information was provided to a previous Freedom of Information request where patients have assaulted staff in 2016 and 2017 and can be located through the following link:

Assaults at the General Hospital (FOI) 

D

It has been assumed that by Police Staff the requester means civilian staff. The answer to question D is that there have been no assaults recorded against civilian staff (Front desk). Details of verbal abuse are not recorded.

Assaults against States of Jersey Police officers are as follows

E

This information is not held in a reportable form.