The number of officers dismissed from the PSNI has almost trebled in five years it can be revealed.
Figures released to Belfast Live following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show that in 2022, 29 officers were dismissed from their post including 19 constables, eight student officers and two sergeants.
This compares to 2018 where one sergeant, four constables and five student officers faced dismissal.
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Meanwhile, the number of officers resigning from the police service has nearly doubled standing at 93 in 2022 compared to just 53 in 2018.
Taking account of those who have either been dismissed, resigned or retired, 1,926 officers have left the PSNI between January 1, 2018, and the end of April this year.
These figures come as the Chief Constable has warned that recently proposed budget cuts will have a "drastic impact" on the number of officers remaining in the PSNI.
Assistant Chief Officer for People and Organisational Development, Clare Duffield told Belfast Live that the PSNI continue to take action to further understand why officers leave the service.
“Like every organisation, people leave and do so for a variety of reasons," she said.
"Our attrition rate for Police Officers in 22/23 was 6% and for Police Staff was 8%.
"We continuously benchmark our turnover against other similar organisations and take action to understand the reasons for leaving and any trends this shows. In 22/23m a high percentage of leavers were due to retirements.
“The Chief Constable has previously made it clear how gravely concerned he was about the stark budget received by The Police Service of Northern Ireland and the drastic impact it will have upon police numbers.
"As a result the Police Service is going to shrink over the next three years.
“We have taken steps in an attempt to address this with a series of decisions on cost reductions, including slowing or pausing recruitment, and a tight control of future internal promotion and selections.
“In spite of this, as a Police Service, we remain committed to Keeping People Safe. The public can continue to have confidence that we will still answer 999 calls and continue to patrol our neighbourhoods.
"We will continue investigate high harm crime and bring offenders to justice.”
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