National Police is understaffed: shortage stands at 18%, - Vyhivskyi
The National Police reports a staffing shortage of about 18%, while the Patrol Police reports a shortage of nearly 26%. The reasons cited are heavy workloads and a lack of candidates.
According to Censor.NET, National Police Chief Ivan Vyhivskyi discussed this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
On the number of police officers
"The staffing situation is complicated. We have a significant shortage of personnel. Unfortunately, people today aren’t very eager to join the police force. We announce recruitment drives, but we have few applicants," said Vyhivskyi.
He added that there are several reasons for the staffing shortage. First, everyone understands the workload police officers face, and second, the low salaries
"And I’m frankly surprised when people online—so-called ‘experts’ and ‘opinion leaders’—say that there are 400,000, 300,000, or 200,000 police officers. I don’t understand where they get these numbers from. Officially, there are just over 100,000 police officers currently serving in the National Police," Vyhivskyi said.
On sending police officers to the front lines
He also explained why, in his opinion, it is unwise to transfer police officers to the military en masse.
"When people say, ‘Let’s send all the police officers to the front and recruit from the streets,’ we have many specialized areas that require specific knowledge and education. It’s impossible to just pick up an investigator, an operative, a forensic expert, and so on from the street," noted the head of the National Police.
What preceded it?
As of today, approximately 70% of the National Police force has already served on the front lines.
- As a reminder, on 18 April in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv, an unknown man opened fire on people. He then burst into a supermarket and took hostages.
- He was shot dead during his arrest.
- According to the latest reports, seven people are known to have been killed.
- An investigation has been launched under the terrorism act.
