The chief inspector of Scotland's police forces has warned that making too many police roles for civilians could turn the service into a "gendarmerie".
Paddy Tomkins, head of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMCIC), believes Scotland needs a critical mass of officers and that deferring responsibilities to civilians would damage their relationship with the public.
Speaking exclusively to The Herald, he criticised proposals to introduce Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) or "plastic plods" as they are known in England and Wales.
His comments will add to the already incendiary debate about the future resourcing and role of policing in Scotland just days after The Herald revealed that one of Scotland's most senior officers wishes to give a huge range of traditional police roles to civilians.
Mr Tomkins's criticism of PCSOs and widespread civilian programmes will set his position at odds with that of David Mulhern, the chief executive of the new Scottish Police Services Authority, and proponent of a far-reaching programme of civilianisation.
"We need to be there for the public," he said. "In terms of cementing mutual trust and getting people to share information, a lot of these roles are essential. You can give people a notebook with questions - that is not the same as having officers there picking up on the wider interpersonal skills.
"We also need a critical mass of policing to respond to major events such as foot-and-mouth or the Jeep in the airport in Glasgow. If we go down the road of just doing jobs which require police powers and having the minimum number of police we are painting ourselves into a corner."
Mr Tomkins and Malcolm Dickson of HMCIC believe certain roles such as the citation of court witnesses and execution of certain warrants should be taken out of the police's hands but that removing the "soft" skills of officers would create a gendarmerie.
Police community support officers were introduced to England and Wales in 2002. There are 4000 with plans to recruit a further 21,000.
They get three weeks' training, do not have the power of arrest but can detain suspects for 30 minutes.
Mr Tomkins added: "The PCSO model should be approached with extreme caution. Their contracts mean they cannot be used with the same flexibility as officers. In Scotland, we have gone down a different route by introducing community wardens through the local authorities. We should perhaps look at increasing their numbers rather than introducing PCSOs."
David Mulhern said: "I do not see PCSOs as a substitute to police but an addition. There is growing agreement that we do not have sufficient officers or resources to do the work being demanded of us right now. There is no additional money so we have got to look at different and more imaginative ways of getting the numbers out of the same budget. There are still too many jobs done by the police which could be done by civilians."
Meanwhile, up to 250 police officers could be freed up for frontline duty through changes to the way court citations are delivered to witnesses.
Sheriff Officers say they should be allowed to deliver the documents.
A spokesman for the government said they would consider the suggestion.
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