A 19-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with an incident which took place within the grounds of an Edinburgh College campus this morning.
Officers were called around 9.10am to Granton Campus in West Granton Road following a report of concern for a man.
Twenty minutes later, a male Police Constable in his twenties, who was among those deployed to respond to this incident, sustained a non life-threatening injury to his back within a campus building.
He was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Chief Inspector Stevie Sutherland, Area Commander for North West Edinburgh, said, “Our thoughts are with our colleague as he continues to recover from what is thankfully a non life-threatening wound.
“This incident continues to be treated as isolated and we’re working closely with Edinburgh College to offer support to students and staff.
“There will be an increased police presence across the campus over the coming days and anyone with concerns is urged to speak to us or contact Edinburgh College’s Student Services Department.”
Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said, “Police Scotland always takes the welfare of its officers very seriously. We continually keep officer safety under review and regular liaison takes place with staff associations around this issue.
“As always, we will investigate this incident to see if there is anything to be learned from it. The officer’s injuries are thankfully not life-threatening and I intend to visit him tomorrow.”
The 19-year-old man is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, November 7.
The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) questioned if an unarmed officer should have been sent to the incident.
SPF general secretary Calum Steele said: “The habit of sending unarmed police officers to incidents of knives is one which continues to cause concern for the Scottish Police Federation.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
