Budget cuts could force Grampian Police to reduce officer numbers by nearly 250, it emerged last night.
Politicians and union leaders have warned that the potential loss would be “disastrous” and could impact on crime levels and police operations in the north-east.
The Scottish Police Federation said budget cuts in the next financial year could mean Scottish forces having to lose 2,800 officers, with an estimated £88.5million removed from their budgets in 2011-12.
Les Gray, chairman of the police union, said the service was working on an assumed 24% budget cut over the next four years, starting with 9% in 2011-12.
The Scottish Government said its priority was to protect frontline services against massive spending cuts.
If the projected cuts were implemented across all eight forces, Grampian would lose 249 officers from its record high of 1,600.
Mr Gray said: “The public have a right to feel safe and protected. Reductions of this scale would inevitably impact on crime levels and crime detection levels.
“The service is effectively being asked to provide 21st-century policing with 1990s resources.
“Put simply, taking 2,808 officers out of the service is the combined equivalent of losing virtually the entire forces from Central, Tayside and Northern.”
Grampian Joint Police Board convener Martin Greig said it would be “premature” to estimate the impact of next year’s budget, but the loss of 250 officers from the north-east would affect the force’s high quality of service.
He said: “Grampian Police officer numbers have increased steadily since 2004 to what is now an historic high.
“This year, the top priority of the police board will be to protect frontline policing.
“We will not be able to give a figure on the impact of the 2011-12 budget until we know the exact scale of the cuts, but it is almost inevitable that a reduction in the number of officers and staff would lead to a reduction in service in the north-east.”
Mr Greig added that the cuts may hit Grampian Police harder than other Scottish forces because of the efficiency savings the force has already made.
“Reducing spending in Grampian is going to be difficult because there is no inefficiency or waste,” he said.
“Unlike other forces, Grampian Police has been able to deliver quality policing while managing its budget extremely carefully, and this will become increasingly difficult as the budget is cut.”
North East MSP Nigel Don, a member of the Scottish Government’s justice committee, said he did not think parliament would allow Scottish forces to be hit so hard.
The SNP MSP said: “These are estimations based on overall public funding cuts, which up to now have also only been speculated on.
“I am not convinced that either the government or other parties want to see the cuts spread evenly across services and affect the police in this way.
“I think it is likely that, as parliamentarians, we are going to say that we need the police and these cuts are not appropriate.”
The SNP promised to provide an additional 1,000 officers by the end of this term in office – a pledge met early but now under threat, according to opposition parties.
Scottish Labour justice spokesman James Kelly said: “The SNP are completely failing to protect frontline services. They promised 1,000 extra police officers, but forces across Scotland are now being forced to make cutbacks.”
Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: “The Conservatives were instrumental in police numbers being increased by 1,000 and, whilst we recognise that Labour’s fiscal incompetence means that all budgets will take a hit, it would be disastrous if frontline policing, which has proved so successful in the last couple of years, were to be prejudiced.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said police had been given record funds of £1.4billion this year.
She added: “Chief constables and local police authorities are taking decisions based on the current economic climate and not on a set budget.
“We will not know what any police force’s budget is until after the UK spending review is announced on October 20 and Scotland’s budget is published in the following weeks.
“Scotland’s budget is forecast to shrink by £3.7billion in real terms over the next four years, and our priority is protecting frontline services.”
The spokeswoman said the recruitment of more than 1,000 additional police officers had been a real achievement by the government.
The situation will be considered at a meeting of the Scottish Police Federation’s joint central committee on September 7.