Nicola Sturgeon has been told to "focus on what really matters" instead of pushing another referendum on Scottish independence.
The First Minister was quizzed by Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross at Holyrood over police pay amid reports of low morale among officers.
The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) has rejected a pay rise of £565 for cops - which general secretary Calum Steele said amounted to a two per cent rise for most members.
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It comes as reported sex crimes in Scotland were found to have increased by 15 per cent in the last year, while non-sexual crimes of violence rose by 12 per cent.
Ross told the First Minister that issues around pay needed to be resolved in order to prevent further rises in crime.
He said: "The First Minister is on a different planet.
"She's saying it was a constructive meeting between her Justice Secretary and the federation.
"The federation said this morning that their members are now taking the most overt demonstration of action. I asked a very specific question, I asked the First Minister and this is what I said, 'has the government considered the impact on frontline policing and public safety?' She never even answered that.
"Again, it was looking at the issues elsewhere because the government has taken its eye off the ball here.
"Resources are being used elsewhere, policing and justice is clearly not a priority anymore. We can see the impact on public safety, violent Crime has risen to the highest ever level since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister.
"That is a consequence of a distracted government, a government that doesn't focus on what really matters. It's what happens when the country's top priorities are set aside when campaigning is put ahead of governing."
Officers have been told to stop turning up for shifts early, to refuse to take equipment home with them and conclude their tours of duty at the allocated time on rotas.
In response to Ross, Sturgeon said: "I would have thought any reasonable person would have welcomed the constructive pay negotiations that are ongoing.
"I appreciate that is not the way Tories go about things with public sector workers. They just offer them zero and tell them to go away, we sit down and have constructive pay negotiations.
"The crime levels in this country are at the lowest level since I think 1974. The Conservatives don't want people to hear the answers, because the answers don't suit the narrative of the Scottish Conservatives.
"Crime levels at amongst the lowest level since 1974 partly because of the value that we attach to policing but more than that due to the great work that our police officers and their support staff do.
"We will continue to support them in stark contrast to that part of the UK where the Conservatives are in government."
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