A union leader believes community policing will be hit as officers are pulled out of the north and north-east to help with the Commonwealth Games.
David Hamilton, the Scottish Police Federation’s northern area chairman, said every area in Scotland would feel the impact of the games.
However, the police had coped at similar events in the past – most notably the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005 – and would do so again, he said.
Mr Hamilton said the games, which open tomorrow, were an “unprecedented event” in Scottish policing with every area contributing to the games except the outer islands.
“It will certainly impact on policing, of that there can be no doubt,” he said.
“You can’t take 110,000 officer deployments off the streets and not have an impact. The challenge is for local divisional commanders to put provisions in place so they can deliver as good a service as they can.”
Mr Hamilton said the games would be a “challenging time” for Police Scotland and posed some difficult questions about how service will be delivered as officers help out at venues away from their normal areas of work.
But he is confident frontline officers will overcome those challenges.
“They will because it is the officers on the ground who make it work,” he said.
“I don’t say that glibly or lightly – we will deliver policing because that is our role. It is the constables, sergeants and inspectors who are at the front end delivering this. People will very much make it work.”
North-east Labour MSP Richard Baker has tabled a series of parliamentary questions and written to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill seeking reassurance that adequate policing cover will continue.
“The Commonwealth Games will be a tremendous event for the whole of Scotland and of course security at those games will be vital,” he said.
“Understandably this will put additional pressures on Police Scotland but it is also vital there will continue to be the police cover needed for public safety in other parts of Scotland, including the north-east.”
Deputy Chief Constable Steve Allen, director of security for the Commonwealth Games, said: “A detailed resource plan has been developed to make sure that there are sufficient officers policing the games as well as making sure that sufficient police resources remain in our communities to continue to keep people safe.
“The games and day-to-day service delivery to the public will be resourced appropriately and our partners in criminal justice are working with us to support the planning process.”