Police officers use controversial spit hoods 13 times a week in London, data shows

Police officers are using controversial spit guards more than 13 times a week in custody cells in London, new data has revealed.

The extent of the use of the mesh hoods emerged as a survey found that nearly all rank and file Met officers want to use the equipment, despite opposition from senior officers.

New Met figures show that officers used the hoods a total of 518 times in the first nine months of 2018 - nearly twice each day.

Scotland Yard allows officers to use the hoods in custody suites but bans their use by front line police officers on the street.

The poll by the Met Police Federation found that 5,269 out of 5,572 members questioned, or 95%, thought all Met officers should be issued with the mesh hoods.

Around half of those who responded had been spat at while on duty in the past two years, and 562 were bitten.

In September Met chief Cressida Dick said using the guards on the streets could make officers more likely to get “a good kicking” while struggling with aggressive suspects.

Senior officers are also concerned at the reaction of the public to seeing suspects placed in a hood.

The guards, used by 37 forces in England and Wales – including the British Transport Police in London -have been criticised by human rights groups including Amnesty International, which called them “a cruel and dangerous form of restraint”.

Now senior Met officers are understood to be examining alternative measures such as a “snood” which only covers the lower half of the face, equipment being trialled by Leicestershire Police.

In the survey one officer said he was forced to take a two-week course of preventative drugs after he was spat at in a custody suite, and as a result of the side effects was not allowed to hold his newborn daughter.

Federation chairman Ken Marsh said: “Being spat at is abhorrent. My colleagues do not in any way deserve to go to work and be assaulted in this manner.

“Colleagues have told us they have been spat at in the face far too often.

“We have to look at all the available options to protect officers. These officers are protecting the people of London and should not be subject to this sort of disgusting assault when they are carrying out their duty.”

Speaking to the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee in September, the Commissioner said she was waiting for evidence from other forces and the Met Federation on instances when a spit guard would have helped.

She said: “In the vast majority of instances it wouldn’t have helped at all because you don’t know it’s going to happen.”

The Federation survey suggested 1,300 out of 3,148 officers who had ever been bitten or spat at did not report the incident to the force.

Mr Marsh, who said there had been a “progressive conversation” with the Commissioner about the issue, added: “The danger and frequency of this disgusting act against my colleagues is clearly happening more often than the force suspected.

“Anecdotally we knew that officers were being spat at far too often on duty, but now we have the evidence the Commissioner has asked for to back up these stories.

“Our message is simple. If you don’t want to be placed in a spit guard, don’t spit at a police officer.”