SCOTLAND’s police “cannot continue” spending more time dealing with mental health crises than tackling crime, chief constable Jo Farrell has warned.

Arguing that dealing with such situations was “not a justice issue,” Ms Farrell warned the Scottish Police Authority: “I cannot continue to have a situation where we are spending more time in this arena than we are on our core roles and responsibilities.

“We cannot continue to operate in this way.”

Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill commented: “Almost one in five police incidents now relates to mental health distress, with officers routinely tied up for hours on cases they are not trained to handle.

“This means fewer officers on our streets and thousands of vulnerable people denied the professional mental health support they urgently need.”

Arguing the “enhanced mental health pathway” had “freed up 76,000 hours of officer time since 2020,” Justice secretary Angela Constance insisted: “We are investing an additional £3.5 million in improving our 24/7 response to mental health emergencies and have recently announced the expansion of NHS 24’s mental health hub support to include psychological therapies.”