At least 300 officers would need to be redeployed to effectively police a soft Irish border, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has said.
The federation, which represents PSNI officers, said it was "time to get real" around the cost implications of policing the Border post-Brexit.
PSNI chief constable George Hamilton is drawing up a professional business case for a rise in numbers to present to the UK government, but is unwilling to put a figure to it yet. However, federation chairman Mark Lindsay said: "In effectively policing a soft border there is the requirement for at least 300 officers to be redeployed. Quite simply, these are officers we do not have at present."
Mr Hamilton said analytical work by experts was continuing to help the force build a business case, but noted significant rises in staffing numbers in partner organisations such as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force.
Mr Lindsay added: “Additional real estate will need to be retained, and we have already seen the sale of Warrenpoint PSNI station halted. I would anticipate that stations previously earmarked for closure will now need to be retained. In order to protect officers there is an expectation that additional armoured vehicles will be required. Not inexpensive on their own.”
Stretched
He said when the force had 13,500 officers, supported by 26,000 soldiers, during the Troubles it proved a daily challenge to police the Border. “So, if we were stretched in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, is it not fair to say that we will be well and truly incapable of performing the task with officer numbers of 6,621 or a sixth of what we had then? There is a time to get real around all of this, and that time is now.”
He said he anticipated considerable extra legal costs would be required in extradition cases and called for adequate funding. “We don’t possess the numbers, the security apparatus or specialist resources for increased counter-terrorist, search and support duties along the Border.”
The chief constable said if there was an increased footprint for HMRC, Border Force and the Environment Agency to deal with compliance issues then the nature of the operating environment would require deployment of officers to ensure the safety of officials. “I am pretty sure it will require an uplift, and there will be a strong evidence base for that. I am building the evidence base to make it a credible and professional business case.” – PA