Law and order is a key issue for parliament

Jack McConnell also called on police chiefs to deliver a better service and convince communities that crime is being tackled.

He also defended his Law and Order Bill and urged police, local authorities and social work departments to work together to help turn around "years of neglect and failure".

In a speech to the annual general meeting of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) in Dunblane, he said confidence in law and order was essential.

His address came the day after he set out his legislative plans, which included three law and order bills in the first year of the parliament.

Jack McConnell said public confidence had eroded

He said: "Crime and how to tackle it matters to me. Never more so than now when I have the opportunity to lead government in Scotland and make a difference to safety in our communities."

Addressing the public's crisis of confidence in law and order was crucial, Mr McConnell argued.

He said: "We need to redress the years of decline in respect of the legal system.

"We need to set a tone that criminal and anti-social behaviour quite simply will not be tolerated in any community in Scotland.

'Opportunity missed'

"We need to tell our young people that there is a difference between right and wrong."

ACPOS president Andrew Cameron said "time and again" police officers had to take young people home.

But he added: "Very often their parents aren't at home and the police officers finish up spending inordinate periods of time actually baby sitting these individuals who are causing mayhem in the community."

Scotland's most senior law officer said modernisation of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal was a "key element" of change.

Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC said it was time "to raise our game".

Colin Boyd QC: "No one wants to be a victim"

He said: "No one chooses to become involved in the criminal justice system. No one wants to be a victim of crime or witness of a crime.

"So involvement in the criminal justice system is never going to be a welcome prospect.

"But it is up to us ensure that failures within the system don't add to the distress."

However, the Scottish National Party said the executive's legislative plans would not make the necessary impact.

SNP deputy leader Roseanna Cunningham said it should have aspired to something greater.

She said: "The hallmark of this programme is what's not in it because what is there is indicative of the ambitions stunted by the constraints of devolution.