What is assault police?
Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 60: a person who assaults, throws a missile at, stalks, harasses or intimidates a police officer while in the execution of the officer's duty is guilty of an offence — with higher maximum penalties where actual bodily harm, wounding or grievous bodily harm results.
Section 60 takes ordinary assault and attaches it to a specific victim and a specific context: a police officer acting in the execution of duty. The assault element is the same as in any assault — intentional or reckless application of force, or an act causing apprehension of immediate violence — so a push, a flailing arm during handcuffing, or spitting can each found the charge. The section also reaches conduct short of contact: throwing something at an officer, harassment, intimidation.
Two extensions catch people by surprise. The section applies to officers off duty, where the conduct is directed at them because of, or in retaliation for, actions taken as an officer. And it applies whether or not any injury was intended — the harm tiers turn on what resulted, not only on what was meant.
The harm tiers — how the same incident becomes a different charge
- Assault, no actual bodily harm — maximum 5 years;
- Assault occasioning actual bodily harm — maximum 7 years;
- Wounding or grievous bodily harm (reckless as to harm) — maximum 12 years;
- Each tier carries a higher maximum where committed during a public disorder.
Most matters sit at the bottom tier and are dealt with in the Local Court. The upper tiers can proceed on indictment, and the line between tiers is one of the first things to test — injury evidence in arrest scuffles is often thinner than the charge suggests. The injury concepts mirror the general assault ladder: see assault occasioning ABH and GBH & wounding.
If the arrest was unlawful, the charge can fail
The element that distinguishes this offence from every other assault is the one defendants are rarely told about: the officer must have been in the execution of duty at the moment of the alleged assault. An officer who makes an unlawful arrest — without the grounds the law requires — or who uses excessive force may step outside the execution of duty. And if the officer was not in the execution of duty, the s 60 offence is not made out.
This is not a loophole; it is the structure of the offence, and it is examined in nearly every defended matter of this kind. The lawfulness of the arrest, the basis for it, what was said, the degree of force used — all of it is evidence, and most of it is now on camera. Every matter turns on its own facts, but the starting question is always the same: what exactly was the officer doing, and was it lawful? The same logic runs through resist arrest and resist or hinder police charges, which frequently arrive on the same charge sheet.
Body-worn video — the evidence that decides these cases
Almost every arrest in NSW now generates body-worn video, and often CCTV and bystander footage besides. That footage cuts both ways, and the issues are recurring: cameras activated late, after the critical moments; footage from some officers but not others; angles that show reaction but not provocation. Obtaining all of the footage, early, is the single most important step in defending these charges — including establishing what should exist but has not been produced.
Defences
- Execution of duty — the arrest or other action was unlawful, or force used was excessive;
- Self-defence — a reasonable response to the circumstances as you perceived them, including to excessive force;
- No assault — accidental or incidental contact in a struggle is not an intentional or reckless application of force;
- Knowledge — where a plain-clothes officer did not identify themselves, what you knew at the moment matters.
How Lenz Legal approaches assault police charges
These matters are won or lost on the detail of a few chaotic seconds, so the work is forensic: every frame of footage, the lawful basis for the arrest, the sequence of force. Where the evidence supports it, the charge is contested; where it does not, the realistic work is on the tier, the context and the outcome — courts understand the difference between a deliberate attack on an officer and a bad moment in a chaotic arrest. If you have been charged, or police want to interview you about an arrest that went wrong, get advice first — and say nothing in the meantime.
Assault police — your questions answered
Is it still assault police if the arrest was unlawful?
The offence requires the officer to have been in the execution of duty. An unlawful arrest or excessive force can take the officer outside it — and the charge can fail. It is the first issue to examine, and every matter turns on its own facts.
Do these charges go to the Local Court?
Mostly, yes. The basic offence is usually dealt with in the Local Court; the ABH and wounding/GBH tiers can proceed in the District Court depending on the circumstances and elections made.
Will I get a conviction for a first offence?
Courts take assaults on police seriously and a conviction is a realistic prospect even for first offenders — but non-conviction outcomes are made in appropriate cases, particularly where contact was fleeting, no harm resulted and the context was chaos rather than intent. Every matter turns on its own facts.
What if I didn't know they were a police officer?
It can matter, especially with plain-clothes officers who did not identify themselves — both for the offence and for self-defence. It is also exactly the kind of issue body-worn video resolves, which is why the footage needs to be obtained early.