Following on from today's news release from the Scottish Liberal Democrats about vandalism to police and fire equipment across Scotland (published below), I was interviewed on Radio Tay News this morning about the matter. Click 'play' above to listen.
LIBDEMS REVEAL VANDAL TOLL ON POLICE AND FIRE EQUIPMENT
Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson Robert Brown has revealed that police boards and fire boards across the country continue to be plagued by vandals.
Using Freedom of Information requests to Police Boards and Fire Boards across the country, the Liberal Democrats have discovered worrying
Commenting, Mr Brown said, “We depend on our emergency services to do a very challenging job in often difficult circumstances.
“We already know they often face violent attacks in the course of their jobs. The latest figures say that 1,150 attacks on emergency workers on duty were carried out in Scotland last year.
“Now our figures show that police and fire officers’ equipment is being vandalised and their property destroyed.
“The incidents we’ve uncovered range from vandalising police cars, to mindless and disgusting vandalism of police cells.
“Cleaning up the mess that vandals leave behind takes valuable resources away from our frontline emergency services, who we know are already struggling to manage tight budgets.”
FOI - vandalism of emergency service equipment
Number of vandalism incidents
Tayside Police
2007 : 46
2008 : 46
2009 : 45
Total : 137
Total : 137