PSNI: Unionists echo Police Federation concerns that without major investment, Policing Board's five-year-plan 'next to worthless'
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The comments come after Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told the Policing Board on Tuesday that low staff levels have "broken" the PSNI.
The force has 6,300 officers compared to the 7,500 recommended in the Patten Review.
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Hide AdOn the same day, the Policing Board launched a consultation on the draft Policing Plan 2025-2030.


Its three key proposed outcomes are to make the PSNI "victim focused"; to have "safe and engaged communities with confidence in policing" and to have "a representative, valued and enabled workforce".
Vice Chair Brendan Mullan acknowledged that both the Board and the Chief Constable had spoken at great length about the challenges, adding that they "need to make sure that the PSNI as an organisation is properly resourced".
However, Police Federation chair Kelly said the day after that the plan fell well short.
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Hide Ad“The PSNI has a restricted, inadequate budget, the lowest officer numbers in its existence, and an overstretched workforce left to balance increasing and competing demands,” he said.


“At first glance, this plan regrettably falls short of truly appreciating this fuller context to the awful and worrying position the PSNI currently finds itself in.
“The three suggested objectives are wholly aspirational and all are unlikely to be achievable if PSNI remains insufficiently funded and officer numbers continue to diminish."
He added: "We all have to face the harsh reality that we do not have enough officer numbers to keep people safe. We’re below 6,300 with the stark prospect of slipping below 6,000 by the end of this financial year.”
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Hide AdIt would have been preferable, he said, if the Board had used the consultation launch “to tell Ministers that you can have all the grand plans you like, but if you don’t provide the PSNI with the budget or the officer numbers, the policing plan will be next to worthless”.
UUP Justice Spokesperson, Doug Beattie, said the plan was "aspirational stuff".
He said: "Of course, the police must be victim focused, but without the numbers required to provide the service victims deserve, how will this be achieved? How will communities be engaged and confident in our police if they don’t see them and who would want to join a police force if politicians can’t show they will be valued and enabled?”
He added: "Warm words and fancy plans cannot take the place of officers ‘on the beat’ and that requires sustainable, workable, multi-year funding.“
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Hide AdThe issue, he said, "sits at the door of the Justice Minister who has not provided the political leadership required" in seeking further funding.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said the Police Federation comments should “act as a corrective to much of the commentary we have heard in recent days about spending priorities”.
He added: “On Monday I listened to MLAs bemoan the fact that the Government had, at long last, called time on the nonsense of Euro matches being played at Casement by refusing to fit the £400 million bill.
"Those lamenting this included members of the Alliance Party – whose leader still refuses to say if she agrees with her Permanent Secretary in the Justice Department reprimanding the Chief Constable for seeking additional funding for the PSNI.”