Some minor crimes will no longer be investigated as part of a project being piloted in the north east of Scotland.
Police Scotland said it wants to give officers more time to focus on responding to emergencies and keeping people safe from harm.
An example of where no further action may be taken was a garden theft with no CCTV or eye-witness evidence.
Police Scotland said: “Hard choices are being made to deliver effective policing within the funding available.”
The new pilot has been described as a “proportionate response to crime”.
The force said at the moment members of the public may have to wait some time to hear whether their report of a crime or incident is being investigated.
The development comes days after the Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the police in England and Wales must investigate every theft and follow all reasonable leads to catch offenders.
Ms Braverman said it was “completely unacceptable” that criminals are often “effectively free to break certain laws”.
‘Local concerns and priorities’
However, under the new approach the aim is to inform people of the decision more quickly.
Divisional commander Ch Supt Graeme Mackie said: “The pilot process will enable local police officers to focus on those crimes that have proportionate lines of inquiry and potentially enable them to give more time to local concerns and priorities in the area.
“We also know that sometimes people simply want to report a crime and we want to provide that service efficiently.”
He added: “Please continue to report crime in your area.
“Local officers will continue to review closed reports to enable them to map local crime trends and this may mean an inquiry is reopened and investigated.”
