Speaking at a meeting of the Policing Board, Chief Constable George Hamilton said that he expects the number of officers to be 6,773 by 2016.
He said that with a high number of officers retiring, and limited recruitment scope for next year, it’s expected that officer numbers will be 6,773 by April next year, 200 less than required.
The Chief Constable explained that the impact of this reduction in officer and staff numbers will be heightened by a reduction in overtime and that the budget reductions for the coming year will equate to 300,000 hours less of policing.
Giving an outline of an average day, Mr Hamilton said that officers respond to 26 RTC reports, respond to over 1,300 calls for service, carry out 92 arrests, search 89 people, prepare 125 prosecution files and seize £27k worth of drugs.
The analysis also showed that 8 officers are assaulted every day.