The SNP’s shadow justice minister Kenny MacAskill and his Dundee East MSP colleague Shona Robison asked for the meeting after receiving an answer to a parliamentary question that showed there are more convictions for assaults on Tayside officers than on officers in any of the other seven Scottish force areas.

Their figures revealed that in 2003 one in four Tayside officers was involved in an incident that led to his or her assailant being prosecuted in the courts.

The Tayside level far outstrips that of any other part of Scotland. The increase over the last ten years is 109% against a Scottish average during the same period of 6%.

The force area with the next highest level of convictions for assaults on its officers is Lothian and Borders with a 22% rise.

However, both Assistant Chief Constable Willie Bald and the federation’s Tayside secretary Malcolm Gibbs said the actual number of assaults recorded on police officers — as distinct from those that led to a conviction — was falling.

ACC Bald said although the recorded level, whilst declining, was still too high.

He said, “I can’t see any obvious relationship between the two sets of figures and it is difficult to say why they should be so different.

“We introduced a new system for recording assaults on police officers and we’re confident it’s as accurate as it can be. In 2000-01, there were 269 assaults on police officers and in 2004-05 that had fallen to 185.

“Sickness days lost over the same period also fell from 533 to 409.”

Mr Gibbs said it may be the case that the procurator fiscal service in Tayside pursued assault cases concerning officers with more vigour or was less willing to drop the charges under plea-bargaining.

He added, “In some respects it is more gratifying that convictions for police assault have increased in Tayside — provided the total number of recorded assaults is falling — because it shows the prosecution service is taking the matter seriously.

“We understand the pressures on fiscals, but a concern the federation has nationally is that one of the things being plea bargained is assaults on police officers, almost as if they are an occupational hazard.”

The SNP pointed out that the average fine meted out to those convicted of police assault has actually fallen over the last eight years prompting Mr MacAskill to call for stiffer punishments.

He said, “Fear of assault should not be a hazard of the job for our police but, as these figures show, that is increasingly becoming the case.

“The police deserve far better protection so that they can concentrate on their vital role of protecting the wider public.”

The Nationalists’ figures revealed that the number of police officers who were the victims of assaults leading to convictions increased from 146 in 1994 to 305 in 2003.

But only a fifth of those convicted of assault were given a custodial sentence.

The average fine in Tayside for the offence in 2003 was £232, the second lowest in Scotland and £10 lower than the 1997 figure despite average weekly earnings in Scotland having risen by £100 over the same period.

Across Scotland, convictions for attacks on officers are on the rise but the situation in Tayside is higher than in any of the seven other force areas.

Between 1994 and 2003, the rise in Tayside was 109% when the increase across Scotland was 6%.

Lothian had the second highest level of convictions for assaults, but the rise over the same period was much less than in Tayside at 22%.

Revealing their figures today, the SNP claimed that Tayside officers were amongst the most threatened in Scotland with the fear of assault hanging over them every day.

Violence towards officers was “totally unacceptable” and the huge rise in convicted assaults was an “extremely worrying trend”.

The situation, they said, was made worse by inadequate sentencing.

Although punishable under the Police (Scotland) Act by a jail sentence of up to nine months, the average sentence dished out by the courts was three months.

Mr MacAskill added, “The Scottish Executive must ensure that perpetrators of this crime receive the punishment they deserve, both for the safety of our police and for the safety of the public.”

Ms Robison added, “Violence towards the police is in no way acceptable or simply ‘part of the job’.

“It must be stamped out as quickly as possible, starting with suitable punishments for offenders, so that police in Tayside are free to do their job of reducing crime and making communities in Tayside safer.”