SENTENCES for people who assault officers on duty should be increased, the head of the Police Federation claims.

Home Secretary Theresa May has been urged to hand our harsher sentences to criminals for attack of injure officers.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said that more needs to be done to ensure officers receive the full support of the law when they are assaulted on duty.

It comes as Essex Police revealed more than 70 assaults against officers were recorded in Southend alone in the space of a year.

Mr White said: "We see harsher sentences for financial crime than we do for physical assault.

"The law must not put wealth ahead of wellbeing."

Addressing Mrs May, he added: "I ask you to commit to increase sentences for all public servants who are assaulted while doing their job – helping and serving their communities."

The Home Office and the federation have been working together to pull together data on officer assaults under Operation Hampshire.

Mr White added that "coppers should be put ahead of cash" and urged a wider roll-out of taser-trained officers to protect officers against violent criminals who they are trying to apprehend.

The conference heard that 97 per cent of officers who have used tasers said it was beneficial.

Mr White said: “No police officer should ever go to work with an expectation that they will be injured.

"Fewer police officers means those policing are often without the quick back-up and support needed if a situation turns violent.

"Taser protects the public, it protects us and it even protects offenders."

Chief Insp Simon Anslow, district commander for Southend, told the Echo increasing numbers of his team are being assaulted as they try to go about their daily business.

From May 2015 until now, there have been 73 assaults against police officers recorded in Southend, 52 of which resulted in charges.

Ten suspects were handed a caution.

In the previous 12 month period, 71 assaults were recorded.

Nine officers were assaulted at Southend Hospital and five in Warrior Square.

Mr Anslow said that the 71 assaults were all committed by different people against a total of 59 officers.

Over the last year, one officer was attacked four times, another officer was hit three times and ten officers have been assaulted twice.

Mr Anslow warned that officers are now able to use evidence from body worn cameras and CCTV footage to prosecute attackers.

He said: "People who have assaulted us have been brought to justice and the evidence of their conduct is becoming more compelling as we now have body worn video cameras, which came in last year.

"These cameras can capture events much more accurately.

"The warning I would give is that if you do do this to an officer, you are going to get caught.

"There is going to be evidence against you, which you cannot hide from."