JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill has been challenged over a move to to arm hundreds of Scottish police, which went ahead without scrutiny by the Scottish Parliament.
Labour's justice spokesman Graeme Pearson has written to Mr MacAskill to express his concern at the lack of information surrounding the increasing number of officers carrying weapons.
It emerged earlier this year that some 440 officers are regularly carrying handguns while on duty.
Mr Pearson, a former Scottish police officer and head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Agency, wrote: "I would be interested to know if you still maintain that your private briefing [with Chief Constable Sir Stephen House], in the absence of a full Scottish Police Authority consultation and/or the briefing of parliament...was the appropriate way to deal with the matter?"
Mr Pearson added: "While I would hope that it would never happen, in the event that an officer is ever involved in the discharge of his or her weapon in circumstances evolving from routine situation, are you satisfied that an audit of the arrangements leading to the changes surrounding the arming of our police will stand scrutiny?"
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it was for the Chief Constable to make operational decisions on the use of handguns.
He added: "In the first year of Police Scotland, specialist firearms units attended more than 1,300 incidents across the whole of Scotland - including more than 100 in the Highlands. The approach taken by Police Scotland is an operational decision which allows officers to be deployed quickly in the event of any emergencies."
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