Interior Ministry: Police Saw 2,115 Departures and 840 New Recruits in 2024

Bratislava, January 17 (TASR) - Last year, 2,115 members of the Police Corps left the service, while 840 new recruits joined it, TASR has learnt from the Interior Ministry's spokesman Matej Neumann. "The statistics for the occupancy of posts are processed on a monthly basis, always as of the first day of the calendar month," stated Neumann, adding that of a total of 22,601 posts, 4,188 were unfilled as of January 1, 2025. The data show a slight decrease of 27 vacant posts when compared to December 1 of last year, but an increase of more than 40 percent when compared to January 1, 2024, when the number was 2,957. The Interior Ministry reported that 4,470 applicants sought to join the police last year. The police have long struggled with a shortage of officers. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) has attempted to address the issue by motivating police officers with bonuses. In an interview in December last year, he stated that the situation in the police force has been stabilised. The opposition has described Sutaj Estok's approach as ineffective and unsystematic, however. lin/df