Shock at rise in assaults on police in Angus.

Assaults: MSP hits out at figures revealed in report

A “sickening” spike in the number of assaults on Angus police officers has been slammed by an area MSP.

In the last nine months, 70 police officers have been assaulted – an increase of 37.3% on the year before.

In a message of intent for 2018, local Area Commander for Angus David Mcintosh revealed he has “more uniformed officers” in the past year than he did in 2015, and there was an 11.2% reduction in overall crime.

But the top officer acknowledged an increase in domestic abuse, and said this year’s “challenges” will come from crimes of violence, crimes of dishonesty, road safety and anti-social behaviour.

Chief Inspector Mcintosh set out some of the key statistics from the year past, and prime objectives for the months ahead.

“The performance year ending on March 31 2017 demonstrated a 11.2 % reduction in overall crime which was welcome. I have more uniformed police officers at my disposal than I did when I took post in 2015; there are more detective officers based in Angus than when we were Tayside Police,” he revealed.

Although crimes of violence continued an overall downward trend, Mr Mcintosh highlighted a 9% rise – 55

“It is sickening to think that an increasing number of criminals believe they are fair game for verbal and physical assault. LIAM KERR MSP

incidents – in domestic abuse, and the unwelcome spike in assaults on his personnel.

“Reports of domestic abuse have more than doubled in Angus in the last five years,” he added.

“It is important to recognise that if we get work in this area of business right, victims will continue to come forward and figures will continue to rise in the short/medium term.”

He continued: “The overall number of crimes of dishonesty has increased in Angus by 10%. The main driver for this is a 35.7 % increase in theft by shoplifting. “

But the top officer reported positive news on efforts to clamp down on rural crime, after a spate of incidents last year.

“Reported incidents and calls to the police are considerably fewer. It is worthy of note that officers deal with significantly fewer of these overall incidents in our rural areas than in our Angus towns.”

North East region MSP Liam Kerr said he believed the increased visibility of police officers has likely been a factor in the overall reduction of Angus crime.

“The police officer on the street is often the first person to a major incident, vital minutes before anyone can call the emergency services,” said Mr Kerr.

“It is sickening to think that an increasing number of criminals believe they are fair game for verbal and physical assault.

“The Scottish Conservatives support tougher sentencing for criminals who target those who keep the peace.

“We recently revealed a surge in the number of attacks on ambulance staff – deplorable acts which threaten safety for all of us.”