SDLP call for increase of Police recruitment

The SDLP has called for increased recruitment of PSNI officers to 1,000 per year.

The call came as Unionists claimed that police strength was already below Patten's recommendations of 7,500 officers and that the figure could dwindle even further unless a halt is placed on severance packages.

However, the SDLP said that while this figure was not true, and was more in the region of 9,000, to counter any drop in numbers, the full time reserve could be phased out over three years with proper severance package.

SDLP police spokesperson, Alex Attwood said: "At present there are over 9,000 full time PSNI regulars and full time reservists in the North - more than the 7,500 full timers envisaged by Patten in normal circumstances.

"This fact is conveniently ignored by some who claim that the PSNI is now made up of 7,100 officers. Given this fact, it could be argued that the issue of police presence on the ground may be as much about management of the available officers than it is about the number of total officers.

"If there is an issue around police presence on the ground, one answer would be to increase the number of recruits per year."

Mr Attwood claimed that doubling the number of recruits a year would enable "the opportunity of severance for those full-time regulars and full-time reservists who wish to avail, provide significant numbers of eager recruits on the ground and balance up catholic and protestant representation in the PSNI."

Current officer levels are to be presented to the Policing Board when it meets on Wednesday, March 5.

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