MSP Jackie Baillie has demanded urgent action after it emerged that more than 10,000 arrest warrants remain outstanding in Scotland.
Murder and rape are amongst the cases where accused remain at large.
And the politician has laid the blame firmly at the door of the SNP, accusing the Scottish Government of having “stripped Police Scotland to the bare bones”.
Data from Police Scotland showed that 10,064 arrest warrants remained outstanding on September 3rd.
Amongst them were seven murder allegations, five of attempted murder and 40 of rape.
Dumbarton MSP, Jackie, said: “Under the SNP’s watch, Police Scotland has been stripped back to the bare bones.
“It is verging on a national scandal that more than 10,000 arrest warrants remain outstanding, including for some of the most serious offences.
“This is the outcome of failure to maintain police numbers and properly resource officers.
“Our Police Officers are already under intense pressure, with an increasing workload and this backlog will not help an already overstretched force.
“The SNP Government has consistently failed Scotland’s communities and trashed our public services.
“Ministers must take urgent action to address the concerns of frontline officers who have been sounding the alarm for a long time over the impact on the service.
“Scottish Labour would restore confidence in our policing and justice system, create safer communities, and prevent our young people from being drawn into crime in the first place.”
Arrest warrants are issued by a court when there are grounds to believe a person must be brought before it to answer a criminal complaint, or where their address is unknown.
Scottish Labour has previously warned that the SNP has failed to protect police numbers, with 16,427 full-time equivalent police officers in Scotland as of June 30, 2025 – significantly down on the just over 17,400 officers at the start of 2020.
