Trust in the police has been "shattered" by its handling of data on stop-and-search, according to Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie.
During exchanges at First Minister's Questions at Holyrood, the politician said Police Scotland had failed "to be straight with this parliament" about the facts surrounding consensual searches of under-12s.
His comments follow the release of inaccurate data on the number of non-statutory stop-and-searches carried out by police on children.
Chief Constable Sir Stephen House last week admitted the figures were "not 100% accurate", stating that the force had been told to release them by the Information Commissioner.
But emails subsequently released under Freedom of Information contradict the claim.
"The police code of ethics reads: how we deliver is as important as what we deliver," Mr Rennie told the First Minister.
"That is exactly what I am concerned about and I am sure she recognises, and she must recognise, that trust in Police Scotland has been shattered because of this series of events.
"There is clearly something wrong with the system that her government created. What is she going to do about it?"
Nicola Sturgeon said Sir Stephen would shortly be appearing before Holyrood's Justice Sub-Committee to answer questions on the events surrounding the release of the data.
"The bottom line is that Police Scotland considered that it was obliged under the law to release that data," she said.
"And of course the data has been released. I could understand concern if we were talking here about the reasons for withholding information - this information has been released, which has allowed the correct and very legitimate scrutiny that has now been applied to this subject."
She said the wider issue was whether non-statutory stop-and-searches - which are now the subject of a review by Police Scotland - should be stopped entirely.
"The situation around non-statutory stop-and-search is unsatisfactory," she added.
"It is unsatisfactory because of the degree of public understanding about it and I guess it is also unsatisfactory because of the degree or lack of acceptance of it.
"That is why the chief constable has been absolutely correct to say that he is now considering ending that practice."
She added: "It is vital that we have total trust in our police service. I trust our police, I have confidence in our police, and I will continue to back our police in the work that they do."
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