PSNI plan to raise officer numbers to 7,000

The PSNI has about 6,300 officers

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher is preparing “a recovery plan” which aims to lift the Police Service of Northern Ireland's (PSNI) officer numbers to 7,000 within three years.

He has also hit back at criticism he faced from the Department of Justice (DoJ) for making a plea for financial help to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last month.

In a report to the Policing Board, Mr Boutcher said: “I disagree strongly with any rebuke about my approaching the prime minister.

“This is something that I was entitled to do and it did not breach any protocol or principle.”

He told the board that he currently has 4,500 “deployable” officers, once sickness absence and duty restrictions are taken into account.

The PSNI has about 6,300 officers.

PSNI Chief Constable, Jon Boutcher

“The resourcing and funding of the PSNI have continued to worsen over a number of years and I am duty bound as chief constable to highlight the impact this is having on victims, the community and the workforce.

“The current budget is simply inadequate and the pressures on the service are unsustainable.

He went on: “Through maximising the training capacity of the Police College and commencing direct officer entry to the PSNI, we aim to achieve circa 7,000 police officers by the end of the plan’s third year."

The PSNI is currently running at an estimated £34m deficit.

The Chief Constable's "recovery plan”, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland chair Liam Kelly said, needs urgent funding and to "be put into action as expeditiously as possible."

"The dithering and procrastination need to stop so that policing can effectively recover as quickly as possible," Mr Kelly said.

“Our service strength reduced by another 42 officers in the last month. I have previously warned that our Executive is sleep-walking policing towards oblivion."

Mr Kelly added: "Safer communities and an end of violence towards women and girls are two of the suggested [Northern Ireland] Executive priorities.

"To attain these, the PSNI will require significant financial investment so that policing has the effective capacity and capability to deliver both these aspirations, along with the whole range of policing services that our society expects and needs."