Police officers are attending thousands of incidents each year involving mental health across the North East.
Scottish Conservative deputy health spokesperson Tess White warned that officers were now becoming the “first line of response” for mental health incidents amid strain on NHS and ambulance staff.
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New figures obtained from Police Scotland show the North East Division, which involves Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray, have been asked to attend 1,640 mental health incidents so far this year.
However, officers chose not to attend 207 of these – more than in previous years.
Aberdeen North took the highest toll on officers, resulting in 449 mental health alerts this year until September 10.
On average, North East police officers are being called to almost 170 mental health incidents each month and around six per day.
It comes as figures last month showed police numbers had fallen below the previous low of 2008.
Scottish Conservative deputy health spokesperson and North East MSP Tess White said: “Worryingly, our police officers have become the first line of response for attending mental health incidents in the North East.
“The pressures of mental health call outs are taking officers away from preventing and investigating crime at a time when police numbers are plummeting.
“The police show great compassion when dealing with these complex cases but it’s vital the right people who are medically trained and skilled to assist with mental health are on the scene to help.
“That is why we are calling on the SNP government to increase mental health spending to 10% of the frontline NHS budget which would alleviate the strain on our emergency services.
“This will ensure that people are treated before they find themselves in a crisis while helping to free up considerable amounts of police time to focus on keeping our communities safe.”