Wairarapa cops attacked once a fortnight

Police recorded 296 "assaults police" offences in Wairarapa in the decade to 2014 with 52 of the assaults causing injuries.

Wairarapa police officers are being attacked at a rate of more than once a fortnight, according to information released by New Zealand Police.

Police recorded 296 "assaults police" offences in Wairarapa between 2004 and 2014.

Fifty-two of the assaults resulted in injury.

Wairarapa Acting Area Commander Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton said any assault on staff was unacceptable.

"The numbers are higher than we would like because, of course, we'd like there to be zero," he said.

"Policing is challenging and will continue to be challenging.

"Police are often in high-risk environments, so there is potential for assaults on staff. What's good, looking at those numbers, is that there seems to be a downwards trend."

Awareness of the dangers of situations in part came with experience, he said. "But we have to make sure that doesn't bring complacency as well.

"One thing with the nature of policing is you never know what's going to occur from one day to the next.

"That's what makes policing appealing as well as challenging, and we've just got to make sure we're continuously training and giving our staff the resources to deal with those situations, so they deal with them safely and professionally."