display
Mainz (dpa / lrs) - In Rhineland-Palatinate there are more police officers than ever before - and the trend is rising.
Exactly 9,461 trained officials are currently on duty, a new high, as Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) told the German Press Agency in Mainz.
Despite increasing part-time and parental leave within the police force, this corresponds to more than 9,000 full-time positions and thus more than in seven years.
Since further training and recruitment are taking place, around 10,000 police officers can be expected in 2024.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, all applicants complete a three-year bachelor's degree.
Around 580 police commissioner candidates are to be hired again in 2021.
In October next year, around 9,200 full-time positions can be expected.
The total workforce will grow from around 13,800 to more than 14,000 during this period.
This also included specialists, especially in the IT sector and the growing areas of cyber and internet crime.
"We increasingly need such experts, without them the police work would not work," said Lewentz.
Despite the permanent changes in the police profession, such as recently with demonstrations by the so-called lateral thinker movement against corona requirements, the police profession is very popular and also highly recognized by most of the population, said Lewentz.