The Police Service of Northern Ireland is facing a £37 million a year funding gap, the chief constable has warned.
Jon Boutcher said the gap must be addressed, describing officer numbers are “dangerously low”.
Appearing at the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Mr Boutcher also called for agreement to pay the 4.75% pay rise for police officers, which he described as “non-negotiable”.
Stormont Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Earlier this week, Stormont Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald suggested that the region’s budget will be published in early December.
Noting the additional money allocated for Northern Ireland by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget Statement last week, Mr Boutcher told the Policing Board that the PSNI must receive the support that other public services such as health and education do.
He said the PSNI is attempting to meet the “great needs and expectations of communities while wrestling with record low numbers of officers and staff, no uplift in recruitment, and unacceptably high levels of sickness and ill health retirements”.
Mr Boutcher said police have projected they will need £166 million in 2025/26, £235 million in 2026/27 and £307 million in 2027/28.
He said those figures do not include the cost of the data breach, holiday pay or costs around legacy civil cases.
“These pressures require funding, and the PSNI must receive the fiscal support afford to others,” he said.
“The organisational response and safety of communities can no longer be taken for granted in my time as chief, also, a number of independent reports have highlighted the unacceptable funding position of the organisation.
“As Chief Constable, I expect predictions of insufficient resources negatively impacting on performance to become a reality, and this is going to put lives at risk.
“This can still be arrested, but only if proper funding is provided, but it needs to be provided now.
“I look forward to submitting a very comprehensive business case for the recovery of the PSNI to the Department of Justice.”
He added: “I will continue to press for additional resources that I believe are both required and are due to ensure that the police service is fit for purpose and can deliver to the people in Northern Ireland, and I will make no apology, but completely and utterly and regularly repeating this.”
Meanwhile, Mr Boutcher said while recruitment has been recommenced, the first probationary officers graduating from the Police College are merely replacing officers that are being lost, and are not an increase in numbers.
“Our numbers are at a dangerously low level and cannot be allowed to go any further,” he said.