Lincolnshire Police Chief warns lone patrols are increasing risk of officer assaults
More officers are being forced to patrol alone due to stretched resources says Chief Constable
Last updated 8th Aug 2025
Police officers in Lincolnshire are increasingly being forced to patrol alone due to stretched resources - a situation the Chief Constable says is putting them at greater risk of assault.
Chief Constable Paul Gibson’s warning comes as the force recorded 61 officer assaults in July 2025 alone. If the trend continues, Lincolnshire Police are set to see more than 500 assaults on officers this year.
The force is currently in discussions with the Home Office over how to address a £60 million funding gap, which if not resolved, would see 200 police officers and up to 250 police staff being made redundant.
“I am worried for our staff. They're tired, they're worried for their families and their financial future." said Gibson "And critically for me, my officers are getting assaulted more and more - now that can't go on.”
Lincolnshire Police is the most underfunded force per head in the country, covering a vast rural area with limited staffing. Gibson says that stretched resources are directly contributing to the rise in assaults.
“Assaults on officers should never be accepted,” said Gibson. “It is an occupational hazard because of the work that we do in terms of running towards danger.
"But because we are so thinly spread across such a huge geography, that means that officers are often patrolling on their own.”
“Other forces’ officers will of course be assaulted - that doesn’t make it right. But what I am doing is calling people every day and writing to people pretty much every day to say: ‘I'm sorry you’ve been assaulted, and I hope you’re okay.’”
The Chief Constable is set to meet the Policing Minister Diana Johnson in September, in a last push to secure long-term funding before the October deadline.