Police reveal rise in assaults on emergency services staff in Forth Valley

Attacks on emergency service workers have risen in Forth Valley.
Picture Michael Gillen.Picture Michael Gillen.
Picture Michael Gillen.

In total, 249 reports of emergency service staff being assaulted were made.

This was up from 214 of 2019.

Chief Superintendent Alan Gibson, divisional commander for Forth Valley said: “Attacks on emergency service workers, including police officers trying to do their job, will absolutely not be tolerated.”

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The report – which covered the period between April and September – suggested crime levels in many categories were returning to normal levels.

But, police said 267 crimes involving an offensive or bladed weapons were detected - up from 249.

Fraud also showed a significant rise, up from 226 to 464.

There were 19 crimes of taking or distributing indecent images of children during the six-month period.

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There is a currently a 100 per cent detection rate for these offences, which is a rise of more than 35 percentage points.

There was also an increase in threats of or recording disclosure of intimate images - but work by officers in local and specialist resources meant that the number of cases detected also rose, from six to 16.

Road crashes went down, there was one more fatality, and drink-drug driving increased, with 216 offences recorded - up from 183.

Mr Gibson said: “This data illustrates that crime levels are beginning to return to normal levels in a number of areas, and that our proactive commitment to removing dangerous drugs and weapons from our communities continues to work.

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“However, the online realm continues to provide challenges that we must address to keep people safe.”

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