Assaults on Emergency workers: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of police recorded common assaults of an emergency worker in the financial year 2019/20.
2. The number of police recorded common assaults of an emergency worker in the months of March 2020, April 2020 and May 2020.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested which are included below. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below to this letter.

In terms of the first part of your request, the latest information available on Recorded Crime in Scotland is for the 2018-19 financial year. The statistics for the 2019-20 financial year are due to be published
on the 29th of September.

In terms of your second request, the Scottish Government does not hold information on Recorded Crime in Scotland for March 2020. The data we receive from Police Scotland for the production of the annual National Statistics is provided by quarter as standard but we have recently been receiving monthly data to produce the new monthly Official Statistics but this has only been since April 2020. This means that while we are able to provide April to June 2020 we are not able to provide March 2020, this will still be the case following the publication of the latest National Statistics for the 2019-20 financial year in September.
The table below contains the number of Common Assault of an Emergency Worker offences recorded by the police between April 2020 and June 2020. It should be noted that these figures will not include all police recorded attacks on emergency workers (for example should an emergency worker be the victim of a serious assault, this would be recorded as a serious assault).
The figures below include those workers defined in the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, which includes (but is not limited too) police officers, members of the fire and ambulance services, other medical professionals and prison officers.

Police Recorded Common Assault of an Emergency Worker, Scotland, April 2020 to June 2020

	April 2020	May 2020	June 2020
Common assault of an emergency worker	644	775	684

Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland: June 2020

About FOI

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