WARSAW, 8 Feb. Polish police are facing a critical shortage of personnel , Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the country Czeslaw Mroczek said in parliament.
“»The police, as the most important formation for carrying out tasks related to ensuring the security of the state and citizens, must have the appropriate forces for proper work. The number of full-time positions in the police for 2024 is set at 108,909. At the same time, employment is 96,698 full-time positions. This is the number of police officers in our service. In addition, 18 positions are funded by local governments. At the end of 2023, 10,411 positions are vacant, which amounted to 9.72%,» said the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to him, 9.5 thousand police officers left the police service last year, which was a record. «Employment levels at the end of 2023 were as low as they were in the early 1990s, when the force was created. This perhaps most clearly shows the difficulties the police faced. The number of vacancies was higher only in 1990.» — Mroczek added.
In his opinion, the reason for the current crisis is that the police in recent years have often been used for party purposes, as well as the imperfection of the career growth system. To remedy the situation, Poland's new government intends to increase salaries, encourage former police officers to return to service, and prevent new layoffs. 3.8 thousand people are planning to leave the ranks of the Polish police in the near future.