By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
People who attack emergency service workers should receive much harsher sentences, it has been claimed, after it emerged a police officer or staff member is assaulted almost every hour in Scotland.
A total of 7,159 assaults against officers and staff were recorded in 2024/25 – an average of 20 per day. Police Scotland has described these incidents are “absolutely unacceptable”.
Assaults against officers and staff have increased by 6.3 per cent from the previous year, and by 3.4 per cent on the five-year mean, according to new figures presented to the Scottish Police Authority.
People charged with attacks against emergency services workers can face a prison sentence, a £10,000 fine, or both.
The Scottish Conservatives are calling for the maximum sentence to be doubled.
The party’s justice spokesperson Liam Kerr said: “It is appalling that thousands of assaults have been carried out against the police when carrying out their jobs.
“Dedicated officers are already facing huge pressure thanks to the SNP’s severe and sustained cuts to police budgets which has left them more vulnerable to attack.
“SNP ministers need to show some common sense and back our calls to double the maximum sentence for those who think it is acceptable to assault emergency service workers.”
“We send a clear and consistent message that assaults on police officers and members of police staff are absolutely unacceptable”
DCC Alan Speirs
Scottish Police Federation chair David Threadgold told 1919: “I’m sick and tired of listening to the service respond to this type of information by saying it’s outrageous that police officers are getting assaulted.
“What is actually being done by the force executive to ensure that as much as they can – and I do accept that you can never take that element of risk away from policing altogether – they are providing the appropriate cover for the areas we’re working in?
“What is society doing to understand that assaulting police officers is not acceptable?
“My opinion is that if police are far more engaged in communities, it’s less likely that the default would be aggressive and hostile situations.”
The rollout of body-worn video cameras in Scotland started in March, with officers in Tayside the first to receive them.
Officers in the Highlands and Islands also started receiving the new equipment last month, with all frontline officers expected to get the devices over the next 18 months.
Threadgold added that the provision of body-worn video provides “probable hope”.
“The evidence suggests that people’s reactions change when they’re being recorded, but again that’s going to take time to roll out across the country,” he said.
“We also went from 500 to 2,000 cops who are Taser trained. What I would like to see is us get to a situation where every operational officer who chooses to, has access to Taser.”
Scottish Labour said those who assault a police officer “should be dealt with accordingly”.
Justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill added: “No-one should have to face being assaulted at work and that includes the dedicated members of our police force.”
In October last year, 1919 reported that almost a quarter of operational police officers did not have up-to-date safety training to help protect themselves during conflict.
It followed a two-month pause on all training as a result of budget pressures.
Further concerns have been raised over plans to move officers from desk jobs to frontline policing as part of Police Scotland’s Force Mobilisation Model.
Police Scotland said it continues to try to reduce assaults, and its operational safety training department has delivered a pilot to test if additional training would make officers and staff safer.
DCC Alan Speirs told 1919: “We send a clear and consistent message that assaults on police officers and members of police staff are absolutely unacceptable, it is not part of any job to be assaulted and it is important that we report assaults.
“There has been a year-on-year increase of reported assaults against officers and staff. It is something that we keep under close review, to ensure we are doing all we can to support our people.
“The health and safety reporting rate has increased, suggesting we are building a culture where people are more likely to report.
“This allows us to build a more accurate picture of what officers and staff are experiencing, which means we can identify trends and target areas to improve safety.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson told 1919: “Scotland’s police officers and staff do an excellent job, often in challenging circumstances.
“Attacks on them are unacceptable, which is why our courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with this.
“We are investing a record £1.64 billion for policing this year and our continued investment has enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the last financial year than at any time since 2013, with further intakes planned throughout 2025. There were 16,553 police officers as of March 31, 2025.”