AS the PSNI full-time reservists marched into history at the weekend their union and politicians have warned that the Chief Constable may live to regret the decision to disband them.
It also emerged that the reserve officers received their P45 forms on Christmas eve.
Only 40 remain of what was once a section of 1,500 policemen and women, and – in line with the Patten Report on Policing – the full-time section will cease to exist as 2011 turns into 2012.
A Police Federation spokesman said: “This is, frankly, a poor operational decision. The numbers have been eroded over the past few years, at a time when the level of threat from dissidents is still significant and there is a general freeze on recruitment.
“In the next three years, it is anticipated that around 1,200 officers will leave the PSNI through the new pensions legislation and this will have serious consequences on resources.
“Reservists once made up one-third of the police service, and they have vast experience. Some 49 were killed and hundreds were injured as they carried out their duties. Their skills are vital to the PSNI.”
Jeffrey Donaldson MP said: “The contribution of the full-time reserve has been invaluable to both the RUC and the PSNI and this is shabby treatment after such service.
“But it isn’t a case of sentimentality. The dissident threat remains and I fear that Matt Baggott has not thought this one through. He has claimed the disbandment of the full-time reservists is an operational decision.
“I cannot see how any police service, with the dissident threat always on the surface, can do away with such experience and dedication at a stroke. I hope it will not come back to haunt.
“And we must not allow the service of the full-time reserve and of the RUC to be confined to the dustbin.”
However, the reservists believe they have been shabbily treated. One of the last 40 told the News Letter: “We feel we have been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.
“There is valuable experience within our ranks, and the rank-and-file members know that our expertise is required in view of the dissident threat. But I suppose we carry baggage from the RUC days and that does not fit in with modern-day political thinking.”
A statement from the PSNI yesterday said: “The 1999 Independent Commission Report on Policing recommended that future policing should not include full-time reservists. The severance programme started in 2005, with the last remaining full-timers leaving on December 31, 2011, as they complete an extensive time of re-training.
“They served the people of Northern Ireland with professionalism, dedication and commitment, in the face of violence and intimidation – 49 were killed and their service cannot be under-estimated.
“The Chief Constable has stated full-time reserve officers have always been held in the highest esteem by all members of the PSNI.”
