The Scottish public has been placed at �significant risk� as a result of failure to scan foreign nationals when they enter the country, according to one of Scotland�s most senior police officers.

The Scottish public has been placed at "significant risk" as a result of failure to scan foreign nationals when they enter the country, according to one of Scotland's most senior police officers.

Chief Superintendent Valerie McHoull, President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, will today tell Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and delegates at the association's annual conference that foreign nationals are not being fingerprinted when they enter the country and that more safeguards need to be put in place.

She claims that airports and ports in England and Wales can scan the fingerprints of new entrants but that Scotland does not yet have that provision.

Ms McHoull will also touch on the current debate about whether offenders should receive community sentences and warn Mr MacAskill against "further indulging" offenders through current proposals to reduce the number of criminals sent to prison for less than six months.

Speaking at the 86th annual conference of the association, she will also caution that if a major terrorist attack such as 7/7 occurred in Scotland today, "we would not have the required resilience at senior management level to deal with this".

Her comments follow a number of high-profile cases involving foreign nationals. Last month, Slovakian Marek Harcar, 33, was convicted of the rape and murder of a Glasgow businesswoman Moira Jones.

In March, two Lithuanians, Vitas Plytnykas, 41, and 20-year-old Aleksandras Skirda, were convicted of murdering Jolanta Bledaite and disposing her body in the sea at Arbroath.

Ms McHoull will discuss the fact that under current legislation officers have just six hours to investigate a detained suspect but that international validation and criminal record checks may take far longer.

"We understand that for some time now points of entry into the UK in England and Wales have had the capability to scan the fingerprints of entrants for immediate comparison with UK, American and European databases, and yet that upgrade has not been put in place for points of entry in Scotland," she will tell delegates.

"This poses a significant risk to our communities and therefore I would urge that work in progress to deliver a solution be treated as a priority.

"Our members have been involved in recent cases which have been constrained by the lack of information on both victims and offenders from countries where no reliable sources were readily available.

"We must close these loopholes and we would ask you to challenge the UK Government, EU, Europol and Interpol to get a resolution to this now."

In a wide-ranging speech Ms McHoull, a chief superintendent with Lothian and Borders Police, also warns that despite the best intentions of officers it is impossible to fully prevent the re-offending of sex offenders.

Mr MacAskill will respond to her speech at the conference in Cumbernauld today.

He is expected to say: "As you know, the vast majority of EU nationals coming to Scotland are law-abiding citizens who contribute a great deal to our economy.

"However, a couple of recent cases in Scotland have seen EU nationals found guilty of committing serious offences. As already mentioned, this kind of international criminal investigation presents new challenges for the police.

"In the tragic cases of Moira Jones and Jolanta Bledaite, the ability of police to overcome difficulties and liaise successfully with their European counterparts was key to apprehending the culprits and securing convictions.

"Where individuals from other EU states come to the attention of the police, it is essential to make best use of existing centralised services."

"We are working with our counterparts in the UK and Europe to improve the sharing of information on criminal behaviour and build this into existing systems, such as vetting and barring."