Nicola Sturgeon has indicated she will look into police claims that social distancing rules are preventing them from catching criminals responsible for Dundee break-ins.
Ms Sturgeon was reacting to comments made by Tayside’s most senior officer, Chief Superintendent Andrew Todd, in his quarterly report to Dundee councillors.
In his report, Mr Todd blamed the restrictions for a fall in detection rate for those particular crimes from 32.4% to 18.3%.
He said the increase in the proportion of break-ins that went unsolved was “directly impacted by some Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing measures”.
Police Scotland declined to elaborate on Mr Todd’s position when given the chance to do so, claiming proper procedure was that the chief superintendent should answer councillors’ questions at a meeting on Monday before expanding on the points raised.
Ms Sturgeon was questioned about Mr Todd’s comments at her daily coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh.
The first minister said she “would be very happy to discuss directly with him or others in Police Scotland if there are particular issues that need to be addressed”.
She added: “I will probably have a closer look before saying any more.”
Later, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are incredibly grateful for the hard work of the police during the pandemic and their professionalism balancing protecting people in unprecedented circumstances and enforcing the restrictions. We are in regular contact with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Federation.”