Assaults on Scottish emergency service workers have reached a three-year high.
During the 2016/17 period, police recorded 6,509 common assaults on 999 staff – the equivalent of nearly 18 a day.
Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary said he believes the Scottish Government should take the issue of attacks on police officers, fire fighters, ambulance crews and others more seriously.
Mr Kerr said: “The protection of our dedicated emergency service workers has to be absolutely paramount.
“There are laws in place to crack down on this very thing, and it’s time we started using them.
“We have to get tough on those who commit these offences to make it absolutely clear it will not be tolerated.
“Many of these attacks will have occurred when a police officer, paramedic or fire fighter has arrived specifically to help the very people who end up assaulting them.
“That’s illogical and unacceptable, and the fact that these figures may just be a fraction of the whole picture is all the more concerning.”
A total of 6,414 assaults were recorded in 2015/16, and there were 6,480 in 2014/15.
However, the figures have dropped since 2011/12, when there were more than 7,100 assaults on the emergency services, and in 2013/14, when there were 6,813.
On Saturday, a firefighter was taken to hospital after being assaulted at the scene of a bin blaze in Glasgow.
He was taken from the scene of the incident in Springburn to the city’s Royal Infirmary Hospital for his injuries.
A spokeswoman from the Scottish Government said: “The Emergency Workers Act includes a penalty of up to 12 months imprisonment, a £10,000 fine, or both and we have extended the act to include GPs and doctors, nurses and midwives working in the community.
“For more serious attacks other offences can be used, with maximum penalties all the way up to life imprisonment.
“All workers deserve protection from abuse and violence at work.
“That is why Scotland’s justice system provides for protection for all workers under our common laws of assault, threatening and abusive behaviour and breach of the peace.
“We full support our police, prosecutors and courts in dealing robustly with people who offend against public facing workers.”
