Police Service of Northern Ireland has 550 officers off sick each day, says chief constable
Simon Byrne says the PSNi is working with its officers to give them the necessary helpChief Constable Simon Byrne has said the Police Service of Northern Ireland is facing a big challenge with the number of officers off on sick leave.In an interview with BBC News NI, Mr Byrne said he was particularly concerned by absences linked to psychological problems."We have seen an increase in the number of officers sick," said Mr Byrne.
"Or is it the effect of worrying about the cost-of-living crisis? Or is it just the drip-drip effect of policing traumatic incidents?" Mr Byrne said that although the number of officers on restrictive duties was just over 1,000 at present, that did not mean every restricted officer "isn't worthwhile for policing".He said the PSNI was working with occupational health and wellbeing colleagues to see how officers can be equipped with more support.
"As the public will see, our treble nine phone performance is impressive. We are one of the top performing organisations in the whole of the UK, we don't want to see that shrink," he said. "The thing I will point out to the public is that we enjoy relative levels in terms of peace and safety, in terms of crime levels we are actually the safest part of the UK, so people go about their daily life without risk of burglary and violence in our streets, in the way we might see in other parts of the UK, what is in jeopardy is that feeling of safety and security.
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