Full Time Reserve
In 2004 the Chief Constable decided to reduce the Full Time Reserve from approximately 1500 officers to 680 officers by October 2006. In making this decision the Chief Constable felt that this staffing level would be sufficient to deliver an effective policing service, when coupled with an ongoing stream of new recruits to make up PSNI’s 7,500 regular officers (as recommended in the Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland ).
A compulsory severance package was negotiated for all Full Time Reserve officers that included financial as well as practical considerations such as retraining opportunities through the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust. The Policing Board played a part in securing this package. At that time, the number of Full Time Reserve officers deployed in PSNI was 680, with approximately 100 in retraining.
In September 2007 the Chief Constable informed the Board that a decision had been taken, following a comprehensive and detailed examination, to reduce the requirement of the Full Time Reserve officers with effect from April 2008 from 680 to 381, a reduction of 299.