Plans to cut police numbers in the North are "ill-conceived and foolish", according to the Police Federation for Northern Ireland.
A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary recommended reducing police officers by 1,500. If the plans are implemented, there will be 6,028 officers in the North by 2011.
The report continues the row over policing numbers. Over the past nine years, Northern Ireland's officers have been reduced from 13,000 to 7,500.
Security minister Paul Goggins said a reduction will only be made on the advice of chief constable Sir Hugh Orde if the security situation continues to improve.
Chairman of the federation Terry Spence said: "We are having difficulty in meeting the legitimate and reasonable expectations of the public at the moment.
"How we are to deliver policing in 2011 with 1,500 fewer regular officers on top of the 680 full-time reserve officers who are already scheduled to leave is extremely difficult to envisage."
The report contrasted the number of police officers per head of population in Britain. In England and Wales there is one officer for 375 citizens, while Northern Ireland has one officer for 227 citizens.
Mr Spence argued: "To compare the size of this force to others in England and Wales is misplaced. We cannot avail of mutual aid, whereby forces in Britain can come to each other's assistance, nor will there be any army presence after this August.
"The degree to which there is armed criminality here is not going to be easily addressed with fewer officers.
"Even apart from that, no one in England and Wales is happy about their level of policing, so comparison is hardly a persuasive argument." He said the timing of the recommendation was "curious".
"What exactly is happening to our law and order agencies and to the police service?"
Policing board member Ian Paisley jnr, DUP, said the British government "must be out of its mind".
"We have had to drop from over 12,000 police officers in the last six years down to 7,500 police officers and for the government to suggest that by 2011 we could take another cut of over 1,000 officers is just unimaginably stupid."