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Vehicle rammings leave 58 officers hurt in past year

BBC A damged police Audi sits in a garage. It is blue and yellow police colours, with a white bonnet. Their is a chunk taken out of the front left of the car, inbetween the grill and the left wheel. Inside the car airbags have been deployed. BBC
Police say these injuries occurred in more than 40 different incidents

Deliberate ramming incidents have left 58 police officers injured in the past 12 months, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said.

The force said that officers suffered injuries in 40 incidents since 30 November 2024.

Police also revealed that in the past five years more than £400,000 had been spent on repairing vehicles damaged in ramming incidents.

Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said the statistic may not fully reflect the true extent of injuries sustained by police personnel.

PSNI Three wrecked police cars sit partially on some green grass and grey concrete. They all have damage to them. The first, a yellow and blue chequered car, has a wrecked bonnet, with a smashed front grill. The second has a smashed driver side door, it is the same colour as the first. The third is a grey unmarked skoda, with a smashed door panles on the back seat of the driver side. PSNI
Police said ramming incidents were more common urban areas

He told BBC News NI most vehicle ramming incidents happened when people were attempting to get away from police or avoid arrest.

Police said ramming incidents were more common urban areas such as Belfast and Londonderry as well as border areas.

DCC Singleton told BBC News NI the PSNI was facing "a well-documented financial crisis, and this cost obviously impacts on our ever decreasing policing budget."

'Culture of car crime'

"A number of officers will suffer, in some cases quite serious injuries. Those injuries often can extend to long periods of absence, which means that a really important asset is denied to the public," DCC Singleton said.

"It can range from whiplash type injuries right up to really serious injuries.

"As police officers, we come to work knowing we could be faced with difficult and dangerous situations, no one should ever have to accept a scenario in which their vehicle being rammed and them potentially being injured or even killed.

"It simply wouldn't happen in any other profession."

PA Media Liam Kelly and Bobby Singleton stand in front of a wrecked police car. The car has blue and yellow police colours, with a white bonnet. Their is a chunk taken out of the front left of the car, inbetween the grill and the left wheel. Inside the car airbags have been deployed. Liam Kelly stands on the left in a navy suit, white shirt, brown shoes and a green and navy striped tie. Singleton wears his police unifrom, which consists of green trousers, a white shirt, black shoes and a black tie. PA Media
Liam Kelly and Bobby Singleton condemned ramming incidents

DCC Singleton said the number of officers injured in ramming incidents may be higher.

"Many officers opt not to report and simply seek treatment themselves," he said.

Police Federation for Northern Ireland chairman Liam Kelly added said the reported figures were "the tip of the iceberg".