A Perth councillor has said the public is losing faith in Police Scotland following an incident where a psychiatric patient with a violent history went on the run.
Heather Stewart said she was appalled to have learned about the incident through the local press, instead of being contacted by the force.
She said such incidents tarnished the reputation of the single police service.
Paul Brownlie, who has schizophrenia, absconded while on an escorted trip from Rohallion secure care clinic at Murray Royal Hospital in Perth last Wednesday.
He later handed himself in to police in Edinburgh.
Ms Stewart, who represents the city centre ward, has now called for a review to ensure locals receive appropriate warnings in future.
“This is not the first incident in recent times at the Perth facility and I have met regularly with senior management and had correspondence with Police Scotland on how to manage these situations,” she said.
“I am, therefore, appalled that neither of these organisations chose to inform the public of this potentially dangerous individual being free to roam the community and also did not have the courtesy to contact the locally elected representatives.
“I do not appreciate being informed of this through the local press the following day. The public are losing confidence in Police Scotland and situations like these do nothing to enhance their reputation.”
Representatives of Police Scotland’s Tayside Division declined to comment on why warnings had not been issued in the area, instead directing The Courier to their counterparts in Edinburgh.
A spokesman in the capital said: “Responsibility is, and always has been, that of the Scottish Government to notify the public and media when a restricted patient goes missing and the Scottish Government did so in this case.
“The involvement of Police Scotland was to retransmit that notification in local social media channels as it was thought he was in the Edinburgh area, which was ultimately the case.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “The fact that the patient had absconded was covered widely on all national news outlets.”