Peacock ordered the review after claiming a report showing a 27 per cent increase in reported incidents against staff in 2002/03 was "questionable".
Across authorities there was a "marked difference" in the type of incidents considered serious enough to record, he said, and close analysis did not provide evidence that violent incidents were actually increasing.
The EIS said the figures "do show there has been a rise in the levels of violence", and the Government and local authorities had to take the problem "much more seriously".
The Scottish Executive has issued guidelines on the sort of incidents that should be recorded but local authorities can interpret these differently.
The union admitted there could be inconsistencies across local authorities but added that, far from incidents being over-reported, the "true picture was probably worse".
- www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00318-00.asp.
