West Midlands Police officers assaulted nearly 4,000 times in just three years

Since 2016, officers have been punched, stabbed, spat on and even ran over while protecting the region's streets.

There are nearly four attacks on average every day, according to figures released through a freedom of information request.

The West Midlands Police Federation believes crooks think they can get away with attacking officers due to weak sentences.

The newly-released figures show the scale of violence police officers are facing on a daily basis.

Last year there were 1,346 assaults on police officers including six sexual assaults and 12 threats to kill. The majority of incidents were made up of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault on a constable.

The previous year there were 1,223 assaults, including six attempted murders, with 1,353 assaults in 2016, according to figures provided by West Midlands Police.

Sergeant Richard Cooke, the chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, has called for all frontline officers to be issued with tasers to help deal with the rising threat of violence.

He told the Express & Star: "Officers are mainly out patrolling on their own now and for longer than ever before, while the threat level is just going up and up. Backup is either not there or not even close-by.

"Weak sentencing is a big problem and the government's idea to scrap sentences of six months or less is basically telling criminals to crack on, as these are the kind of low-level sentences they would normally get for assaulting a police officer.

"Usually the assaults occur at the point of arrest, which is why we want all our frontline officers to have tasers. Just the threat of it is enough get compliance.

"There is a lot of issues around the new drugs at the moment, such as monkey dust and black mamba. People are getting high on these, and more traditional drugs like cocaine which is very prevalent at the moment, and that puts them in fight mode.

"There is also officers getting spat at after they have arrested someone, but these people are normally drunk. You rarely hear of sober people assaulting police."

Asked about his personal experience, Mr Cooke added: "Some years back I had quite a bad injury after getting my neck slashed by a man who was mentally ill and suffering from an episode. A millimetre either way could have killed me, which is a pretty chastening experience.

"I have also been spat on, which is thoroughly disgusting. It is a sick feeling when you realise you have someone else's phlem on you."