Charlene Boucher, an Enquiry Officer for TV Licensing, shares some of her experiences in a special video diary for the About the BBC Blog.
November is Anti-Bullying Month and to coincide with the campaign TV Licensing is using the opportunity to tackle the increasing problem of verbal and physical attacks on its enquiry officers who visit unlicensed properties.
Attacks on enquiry officers have more than doubled in the last financial year: 89 enquiry officers were victims of physical assaults by members of the public, up from 37 in the previous year. Several incidents resulted in staff being admitted to hospital.
In total, 360 enquiry officers faced physical and verbal assaults in the last financial year. In Worcester one female officer was told, "I will smash your face in if you don't f**k off.” Another officer in Dundee had a hammer waved in his face. And, in another incident, an officer was physically picked up and thrown over a five foot hedge.
Many officers have had death threats made to them after knocking on doors, while others have been punched and spat at, had TVs thrown at them and also been filmed whilst being abused, with clips posted on YouTube.
721 incidents featuring abuse on enquiry officers were recorded in the last year, up from 294 in the previous year. As part of Anti Bullying Month, we've published two exclusive videos featuring enquiry officers Charlene Boucher and Tracy Morris.
Tracy Morris also works for TV Licensing as an Enquiry Officer and has a different definition for some of the words she's called by members of the public.
