More officers: Justice Secretary attacked 'blunder'. Pic: © STV
Front-line police officers may be forced behind desks as the number of civilian jobs falls, Labour has warned.
The party said the number of police support staff had fallen by more than 1,000 since the SNP came to power at Holyrood.
However, the Scottish Government described the accusation as a "blunder" that drew attention to its success in recruiting an extra 1,000 officers, in line with a manifesto pledge.
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker said support job numbers had "crashed" under the Nationalists. "Police support staff need to be there to ensure that police officers spend the maximum amount of time out on the beat, not sitting behind a desk," he said.
"We have already seen the level of cuts to police support budgets. In Strathclyde a 20% cut is being proposed and that will mean fewer support staff and fewer officers on the frontline of crime fighting.
"These current cuts are the sole responsibility of the SNP and rather than crowing about 1,000 extra police they should be ensuring that as many officers as possible are walking the beat and not driving a desk."
Official figures showed a reduction of 1,041 support posts from 2006-07 to 2008-09, including 69 fewer traffic wardens, 115 fewer cadets and 857 fewer staff in other roles.
But a spokesman for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "This is another embarrassing blunder by Richard Baker. All he's done is draw attention to the SNP government's achievement of delivering an all-time record number of police officers, which has helped cut crime to a near 30-year low.
"We said we would deliver 1,000 additional police officers in this parliamentary term, and we have exceeded that target well ahead of schedule. This government is totally committed to making our communities stronger and safer, and we will continue to make sure our police forces are properly funded.
"Had Labour won the 2007 election, there would not have been a single additional police officer on Scotland's streets."
