Man arrested over police officer 'left for dead' after Walsall hit-and-run

Police Federation warns violence against law enforcement 'reaching crisis levels'

Woman left lying in the road with a serious head injury, a punctured lung and broken ribs (Peter Byrne/PA Wire/PA Images)

A man has been arrested after a female police officer was hit by a car and “left for dead” in the West Midlands.

The 51-year-old male was detained on suspicion of assault at an address in the Birchills area of Walsall on Sunday, West Midlands Police said.

He was in custody on Monday undergoing questioning about the hit-and-run in Hatherton Street in the town, which took place after the police officer attended a domestic incident.

The 50-year-old was left lying in the road with a serious head injury, a punctured lung and broken ribs. She was still in hospital recovering on Monday, the force said.

The crash came amid growing concern about escalating violence against law enforcement.

A spate of incidents has left six of West Midlands Police officers injured in 36 hours. Another five were hurt over the weekend in two separate incidents.

An off-duty West Mercia Police officer was also stabbed in the chest in an attempted car-jacking last Wednesday in Great Barr, Birmingham.

The West Midlands Police Federation has warned violence against police is “reaching crisis levels” and officers felt “more exposed than ever before”.

He called for policy-makers and police leaders to hire more frontline officers and increase access to Taser guns.

Richard Cooke, branch chairman of the federation, said there had been at least 10 different incidents this year where officers could have been killed.

Mr Cooke added: “We had an incident where we had an officer run over and left for dead, an another officer left with a broken leg after a firearms pursuit.”

“The fact is there are more serious injuries of officers and when there are more serious injuries, there’s more chance of someone getting killed,” he said.

The incidents come as officer numbers plummet across the country. West Midlands Police has lost more than 2,000 since 2010, while in the year to March the region has seen a 13 per cent rise in crime, and an 18 per cent rise in violent incidents.

The force’s chief constable David Thompson has previously said cuts to police budgets have impeded its ability to deal with rising crime.

The Home Office has previously said decisions about front-line policing, and how resources are best deployed, are for chief constables and police and crime commissioners.

Press Association contributed to this article