A former senior police officer has revealed "poor supervision" could be to blame for offences being dropped due to police reporting delays.
Ex-chief superintendent David O'Connor, former president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said officers had "very clear guidelines" about the timeframes they have to work to and should be subject to regular checks by supervisors.
His comments came after The Herald revealed that hundreds of charges, including drug, firearm and sex offences, had to be scrapped by prosecutors because police were too late in filing their reports.
READ MORE: Hundreds of charges dropped due to Police Scotland reporting delays
The figures, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, showed that more than 850 charges were dropped in 2017/18 - an increase of 14 per cent on the first year of the single police force.
Mr O'Connor, who is now retired, said that while sometimes human error or workload issues could be to blame, a lot of it will come down to how cases are tracked.
He said: "Late reports have been a challenge ever since I can remember and a lot of it will be down to poor supervision.
"All of these crime reports need to be tracked and there should be regular checks by supervisors.
READ MORE: Hundreds of charges dropped due to Police Scotland reporting delays
"The Crown Office have worked with the police to develop better systems over time, but ultimately it's going to come down to management and tracking."
Police Scotland said it met the time limits "in all but a tiny proportion" of cases.
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