Commenting on official figures showing that the number of police officers employed in Scotland has slipped by 53 in the last quarter, Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson Robert Brown said:
"The SNP's police pledge is slipping. SNP Ministers have refused to produce a 4 year budget, so police boards don't know if the funding will be there to keep officer numbers high. It's no wonder that police chiefs warn that the 1,000 pledge could be unsustainable.
"The SNP seem to think it's acceptable to sacrifice backroom staff to keep their flagship policy. But this takes police on the streets and keeps them in the office doing paperwork.
"The Justice Secretary refuses to answer questions about police numbers. The SNP needs to get this sorted out.
"We need to know what impact budget cuts and civilian staff redundancies will have on the 1,000 police pledge and the actual ability to deploy police officers in our communities."
Follow the party's activity on...