Reddit reviews Blackstone's Police Operational Handbook 2016
We found 2 Reddit comments about Blackstone's Police Operational Handbook 2016. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Common crimes are covered in initial training, with specialist units doing further training relevant to their specialism (e.g. traffic police).
Most (if not all) forces have access to PNLD (subscription-based) which is a regularly-updated database with offence wordings, key cases etc, and legislation.gov.uk (free to all) contains UK legislation. Policing is a team effort so there's usually someone that'll know the answer, and for all other queries there's always the Crown Prosecution Service, who also produce handy guides on their site that anyone can access.
A lot of officers nowadays also use an app like Pocket Sergeant or a reference book like Blackstone's Police Operational Handbook in order to look up those odd technicalities in law that come around every once in a while.
To answer your question about statistics, the Office for National Statistics collate all official national statistics so that would be your best bet in the first instance. There are a couple of offences with regards to assaulting police/resisting arrest - assault with intent to resist arrest (s38 Offences Against the Person Act 1861) and assault on police/obstruct police (s89 Police Act 1996). There are a few similar offences as well (if you want more info then just say!) but that's a good starter for ten.
r/uklaw and r/legaladviceuk are good resources on Reddit for this kind of question as they have more legally-oriented subscribers.
EDIT: Added legislation links to offence wording
It's all about the book learning in training. Yes you'll have role plays, but what gets you out of trouble is knowing what your powers are, what offences have been comitted, what the general procedure is for dealing with X. Commit to your role plays when you have them - but don't just learn to the tests, really sit down and read the material.
Don't assume in investigation, be it "at scene" in a roleplay, or theoretically through scenarios. Always ask the question. An example, I've lost count of the amount of times people haven't asked "did you see him do it" when a victim is telling the officer what they "know" the suspect did. When asked the victim suddenly hasn't seen anything, but heard a loud crashing sound and what else could that be?!
Honestly you pick it up. Learn the points to prove to start - theft, burglary and robbery should be by heart. The main three use of force should ideally be by heart (Sec.3 Criminal Law Act, Sec.117 PACE, Self Defence [common law]). You don't need to learn everything else word-for-word. Again, reading the material will help you to pick this up. Honestly the most useful book I found to supplement my learning was this. It's a little on the pricy side to be honest but invaluable to read up on offences and small enough to pop in your patrol bag until you don't need it any more. I wouldn't say it's essential though, if I recall correctly the Police Mutual fund hands out some nice Points to Prove books at training schools that every other (non-nerd) probationer seemed to have and get by on.
I have too much kit as it is, but the essential extras you'll need? Long cuff key, torch, decent pen (you will be doing ALL the writing). Boot polish whilst in training school. Trainers respect appearances and learning to buff boots (if you can't already, along with ironing properly) is an essential skill that will do you well in the future. Oh and when you get out of training school, a patrol bag is useful for your stuff.
Oh last thing, practice drill, like marching etc. So many student officers can't do it and the 3 days (if that) that you get practice before your passing out parade is not enough time to do it properly. If you want to look sharp on your parade square, learn some drill as you go through.
Good Luck!