The Scottish Conservatives highlighted that the officer headcount is currently at its lowest level since 2008, and branded the figures “truly appalling”.

There were 17,289 officers when Mr Brown took up post in May 2021. However, that tally has dropped in each subsequent quarter and, as of September 2022, it stood at 16,570 – a drop of more than 700.

Tory justice spokesman Jamie Greene said: “These figures are truly appalling and highlight once again how low a priority justice is for the SNP. The number of police officers is worryingly low – and only heading in one direction.

“Keith Brown ought to be ashamed that he has presided over these remorseless falls, but by giving his public backing to ditching minimum officer numbers it seems he has given up fighting for a properly-resourced Police Scotland. It’s little wonder that violent crime is rising when police officers across Scotland are being asked to fight crime with one hand tied behind their back by the SNP Government.

“Our police work tirelessly day and night to keep the public safe, yet they are being let down by the Justice Secretary. The SNP’s dangerous justice cuts are putting public safety at risk and must be reversed.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said the recruitment and deployment of police officers and staff is a matter for the Chief Constable. He added: “Scotland has a higher number of officers than there were in March 2007 – and more per head of population than England and Wales, with Police Scotland welcoming around 900 new recruits in 2022.

“Despite UK Government austerity, we have increased police funding year-on-year since 2016/17 and have invested more than £13 billion in policing since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officer numbers are lower than they otherwise would be because of the consequences of Covid, the Cop26 climate conference and increased retirals resulting from changes to pension arrangements. We have increased our recruitment plans to mitigate resource pressures in the short to medium term and recently welcomed more than 300 probationers into Police Scotland, with the total number joining the service this calendar year standing at 900.

“The Chief Constable has been clear that hard choices lie ahead to deliver effective policing within the revenue budget available and we continue to work closely with the Scottish Police Authority and the Scottish Government to serve our communities and keep people safe.”

Elsewhere, the Scottish Liberal Democrats called for a “common-sense overhaul” of the prison service as new figures revealed that last Christmas, more than a quarter of those in prison had not yet faced trial and nearly 600 people were on short sentences.

On Christmas Day last year, 2,062 people out of a total prison population of 7,434 were on remand, meaning they had not yet faced trial. This accounted for 28 per cent of all prisoners. A further 586 were serving sentences of 12 months or less.

Police numbers fall in every quarter under SNP Justice Secretary Keith Brown, say Tories