PSNI report suggests progress on employment

The first quarterly review of the Northern Ireland Policing Board (PSNI) Human Resource (HR) Strategy has revealed that the organisation is on course to recruit 540 new police officers this year.

The plan, which was developed by the PSNI and endorsed by the Policing Board last October, is designed to meet the HR needs of the police service over the next 8 to 10 years.

Sir Dan Crompton, a former Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, conducted this first monitoring review, acting as the Independent Observer - appointed by the PSNI - on the implementation of its HR Strategy.

The review examined a variety of issues including the redeployment of officers, organisational restructuring, recruitment, civilianisation, sickness and absence and secondments.

Public interest in applying for positions within the PSNI was shown to be on the increase, with 2,300 applications having been received for the 130 posts in the four-area Pilot Scheme for new part-time police officers. Over 7,000 application forms have also been requested for Recruitment Campaign Four.

Sickness absence continues to be an issue of concern for the PSNI, but the report suggests a decrease in the amount of employees off work - averaging out at 665 police officers on sickness absence per day. However, with the average days absence through sickness per officer working out at 24 days a year in 2002, comparisons with police forces in Britain show that the PSNI has some distance to go in bringing the figure down to a more acceptable average.

The employee profile of the PSNI has undergone some change, with the report detailing how 138 civilians have been appointed as security guards at police stations, 40 deployed to monitor CCTV, 31 as station receptionists. The "civilianisation" of the PSNI also extends to a changing proportion of employees in both the press office and personnel department.

Welcoming the publication of the report, Pauline McCabe, Chairperson of the PSNI's Personnel and General Purposes Committee, commented: "Our goal is to make people living in Northern Ireland safer and effective policing depends on having the right people delivering the right service direct to the community. We have some way to go, but as Sir Dan has indicated in his report, this is an encouraging start.”

(CL)