Police officer numbers have dropped by almost 400 to 6,300 in a single year, it can be revealed after the Chief Constable Jon Boutcher issued a renewed appeal over the numbers he needs to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe.
The north needs 8,000 officers to keep the people of the region safe, PSNI Chief Constable Boutcher said in his latest accountability report to the Policing Board.
At this moment, due to the pressures on the force and the numbers, the PSNI cannot deliver on the Executive’s priority to end violence against women and girls in a way they deserve, Mr Boutcher added.
Civilian support staff numbers have also dropped significantly, with more than 200 leaving in the last year, with the total now at 2,220. The decrease in officer and staff numbers includes retirements.
Those leaving are in the vast number of cases not citing the data breach as a reason, with only one officer and seven civilian staff stating in exit interviews this was a factor in their decision.
According to the latest figures, the officer head count in September was 6,298, down from 6,688 a year ago.
Mr Boutcher, vocal in his lobbying for extra resources, bluntly laid out in his latest report what he feels is needed for the force to properly carry out its work, but recognised increasing numbers will take years.
“PSNI has not received the support it should and we need to get numbers back to where they need to be. This year will be one of survival,” he said.
His ambition from April 2025 is to grow the organisation to 7,000 officers over a three year period, which he described as “not overly ambitious”.
“It’s just putting back what has been taken away. In years four and five we will seek to progress to have 8,000 officers, which by any reasonable assessment is the number PSNI require to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe.”
He noted that police officer and staff numbers remain at their lowest ever levels, adding that the morale of the workforce is at its lowest ebb.
“With officer and staff numbers at their lowest level since the formation of the PSNI, we simply cannot be as victim and community focused as we want or need to be.
“Equally, we cannot deliver against the Executive’s priorities for safer communities and ending violence against omen and girls in a way they deserve.”
Mr Boutcher also questioned whether the commitment to grow officer numbers to 7,500 contained in ‘New Decade, New Approach’ were “merely words on a page or do they come with the cast iron commitment required to make Northern Ireland a safe place to live?”
