A policing union has warned that staff shortages have led to a “dire” situation which is “getting worse by the day”.
Police Federation chair Liam Kelly was speaking after Chief Constable Jon Boutcher raised fresh concerns about staffing and finance at the policing board.
There are currently around 6,300 PSNI officers in the north, a figure Mr Boutcher described as “unprecedented and dangerous”.
The police chief was speaking after the PSNI recently launched a recruitment a fresh recruitment drive, with Mr Boutcher confirming at the beginning of this week police had received 3,100 student applications.
The senior officer said the PSNI’s projected funding gap is currently at £101m against the force’s budget for next year.
He confirmed that his force has been allocated £86m, leaving a shortfall of £50m.
He added he will be “pushing hard for in-year funding to address that gap”.
Mr Kelly said the PSNI has been “in a crisis for some time”.
“The situation is dire and getting worse by the day,” Mr Kelly said.
“Something has got to give. We’ll continue to call for a proper funding model and not this wholly unsatisfactory stitch-and-make-do approach.
“The Service is threadbare and no amount of short-term handouts will adequately reverse and fix the problems.”
Mr Kelly believes PSNI recruitment plans won’t go far enough.
“The plan is to initially increase police officer numbers to 7,000 by 2028,” he said.
“Even then that will not be enough, but it would be a start.
“An increase in resources may well be a forlorn aspiration if the PSNI continues to be starved of the vital and necessary financial muscle it requires to provide an effective policing service and keep our communities safe.”
