INUVIK - The number of assaults on peace officers across the country has gone up nearly 30 per cent over the past decade. In NWT, that number increased more than 100 per cent from 1999 to 2008, according to recent Statistics Canada data.

Assaults on police officers are sometimes seen as "par for the course" at detachments across the North, and some of those hurt don't necessarily see justice served.

Two weeks ago, Inuvik resident Vern Firth-Cardinal, 45, was sentenced to six months in jail for punching one police officer in the face and spitting blood at another after he reached a plea bargain with the Crown. He pleaded guilty to one charge of assaulting a peace officer - rather than the initial two charges - leading to a summary conviction, for which the maximum sentence is six months. Firth-Cardinal received a total of 21 months in jail, including his conviction for one charge of uttering threats.

Chief federal prosecutor Barry Nordine said it is "not uncommon" for the courts to consolidate charges. Nordine said although there were two victims, the plea bargain reflected the fact both charges stemmed from the same incident.

In media reports early last week, at least one member of the RCMP's G Division said he thought the sentence was too light, especially considering Firth-Cardinal has a lengthy criminal record and had previously been convicted of assaulting a police officer five times.

Cpl. Sean Doornbos was one of the officers Firth-Cardinal attacked in the Dec. 1, 2009 incident. He said he doesn't take it personally.

"I don't base my results or the success of my job on convictions or the length of terms of imprisonment that a person receives. What I base it on is whether or not I've done a good enough job in submitting all the facts to the Crown and then it's up to the Crown to deal with it from there," he said.

"Based upon his record and the fact that it was entered into summary conviction, I think that he got the maximum that was afforded by law. I mean, really, my personal views don't really come into play here."

Police officers at Inuvik's RCMP detachment have had to take time off duty up to 12 times a year, on average to recover from injuries resulting from citizen assaults, Doornbos said. In 2008, there were 12 charges laid relating to assaults against a police officer in Inuvik, and since late 2005 there have been a total of 48 charges laid.

Since 1999, the number of people charged with assault against peace officers has risen from 28 to a high of 79 in 2005 and 60 in 2008.

Doornbos said those types of charges are only considered when the assault causes serious injuries to the officer, often meaning he or she has to be removed from duty temporarily.

"We deal with people who are essentially not at the best of times in their lives and what might happen during the course of any routine arrest is somebody might shove our arm away or might push us away. In those instances, it is highly unlikely that we lay an assault on a police officer charge," Doornbos said.

"What makes it difficult sometimes is that we don't often see the response or the sanctions that we'd like to see from a personal point of view, but from a professional point of view it's par for the course," he added. "You have to become resilient ... and you have to know that sometimes these things happen in the course of duty and as long as you do the right thing and you go home at the end of the night, the job is done."