Police officers no longer investigating some minor crimes means it is now “open season for criminals under the SNP”, Douglas Ross has claimed.

The Scottish Tory leader said people in the North East of the country were being used as “guinea pigs” in a pilot scheme by Police Scotland.

The national force has said it wants to give officers in the region more time to focus on keeping people safe from harm and responding to emergencies.

As a result, they will take no further action or respond more slowly to some minor crimes, such as thefts from gardens with no eye-witness or CCTV evidence.

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Police Scotland said the pilot was a “proportionate response to crime”, but added: “Hard choices are being made to deliver effective policing within the funding available."

The Scottish Police Federation, which represents frontline officers, said its members did not want to provide a “poorer service” on top of staff and budget cuts.

“For a national police force to say to its citizens that it potentially will no longer investigate certain crimes sets a dangerous precedent,” said Federation chair David Threadgold. 

At FMQs, Mr Ross, who is married to a police officer, tackled Humza Yousaf on the issue.

He said: “This pilot is unfairly treating communities in the north-east as guinea pigs. They will receive a poorer service, despite paying their taxes like everyone else.”

He added: “First Minister, this is a direct consequence of SNP funding cuts. Officers don’t have the resources to do their jobs, people who report crimes will be told ‘tough luck’ and it’s open season for criminals under the SNP.

“Why is the First Minister telling offenders that they can break the law and get away with it here in Scotland?”

Mr Yousaf replied: “Douglas Ross, with that question, demonstrates why he should never, ever be allowed to be first minister of this country.

“Panicking people, alarming people, sensationalism – all for cheap political headlines.”

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He added: “What we are interested in is results – those results see more police officers in Scotland than other parts of the UK per head.

“What we see is further investment in our police in comparison to the previous year.

“What we also see is lower recorded crime rates here in Scotland than when we took office.”

The number of crimes reported to police dropped from 459,032 in 2007/08 to 289,352 in 2022/23, according to government figures.

Mr Yousaf also denied police funding was being cut.    

Deputy Chief Constable designate Fiona Taylor last month told the force's funding bodym the Scottish Police Authority, that current funding “represents a real terms reduction and does not allow policing in Scotland to maintain our workforce at the levels of previous years”.

She said the force is facing “hard choices” and “the levels of service we provide to the public…will inevitably reduce”.