More than 5,400 people have applied for PSNI student officer and call handler roles as part of a three week recruitment campaign.
The police service launched two recruitment drives at the end of January in order to encourage people to start a career within the force which is struggling with low staffing levels.
From January 22 to February 12, it invited people to apply for its Student Officer roles, which comes with a salary of £34,000, with the PSNI receiving 4,822 applications. The Call Handler recruitment drive was held from January 27 to February 17, with 587 people applying for the roles.
Read more: PSNI no longer sufficiently resourced to keep society safe, chief warns
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton has said that the interest in the positions was "positive news" although the numbers applying for the Student Officer roles were slighting down on last campaign. However there was an increase in those applying for the call handler position.
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said: “It is really positive to see that in the three week application window such a large number of people have expressed an interest in stepping up to serve our communities and keep people safe by becoming a police officer or call handler with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“Whilst applications are slightly down for student officers on the previous campaign, they have risen for the call handler position.
“We were conscious that we would be operating in very competitive job market, with the Northern Ireland unemployment rate at a record low of just 1.9%. A recent report by the Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre also highlighted a shortage of 5,440 workers a year, resulting in an undersupply of available workers across almost all sectors and industries.
“In this context, the police service was competing against a whole variety of other professions and we recognised that this will of course impact on the numbers seeking employment with us as police officers. We are also aware that this is being felt across many sectors, including the other blue light services.
“Throughout the recruitment campaigns, in addition to advertising across traditional social and digital media, we also held a number of outreach and engagement events across Northern Ireland to meet and interact with people who wanted to know about a career in policing.
“We met with so many brilliant and dedicated people from all backgrounds and walks of life whose talents will undoubtedly enhance our Police Service and improve the lives of the communities we serve.
“Being a police officer is not the career for everyone, but for those of us for whom it is truly a vocation, it is an exciting, challenging and varied one where you can literally change lives for the better because of the positive difference you make for people and communities.
“Each of the student officer applicants has now started their journey through a rigorous but worthwhile process, which has been developed to ensure that the very best candidates will go forward to be offered a place on the training programme.
“If this time you did not apply, but are still thinking about a career in policing, please come and talk to us about future opportunities.”
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