Police Service of Northern Ireland - More Manpower Statistics Have Gone AWOL 2

The Police Service of Northern Ireland stopped publishing the Patten comparative establishment figures in December 2009 and the monthly update of full time equivalent numbers [pdf file] for each of the ranks has belatedly just been published for September. The snapshot shows that the figures were last published for May 1. There is a deficit of about 400 constables compared to the Patten recommendation for a peace-time service.

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Perhaps the following queries put to the Policing Board for Northern Ireland, the PSNI watchdog, have had an effect:

"Further to our conversation of September 2, 2010, I'd like PBNI, in its scrutiny role, to address the following issues:

1. The Patten Establishment figures were removed from PSNI monthly manpower statistics in December 2009. Why was this done? Can the figures be restored as they are a useful indicator of deficits in certain ranks.

2. The monthly manpower statistics have not been upgraded since May 1, 2010. Is the failure to maintain updated records not a breach of the ICO Model Publication Scheme?

3. Should student officer numbers be included in the total of regular officers or should they be listed underneath this total?"