Police have seen 5,671 vacancies by the end of last year, 10 percent up from the year before, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told lawmakers.

In a written reply to New People's Party vice chairman Lai Tung-kwok, Tang said vacancies for constable positions had increased from 4,744 to 5,187 between April 1, 2021, to the end of December, a 9.33 percent increase.

For inspector-rank positions, the situation was better with just a 3.64 percent increase in vacancies to 484 from 467.

"The force has been adopting proactive strategies to recruit and retain talents in order to meet operational needs and services. Vacancies will be filled through recruitment, promotion and various extension of service measures," Tang said.

However, despite stepping up promotional efforts, the force still fell short of targets.

Tang said the force only accepted 119 probationary inspectors in that period when the target was 195.

For constables, only 423 out of 1,350 positions were filled.

These shortfalls continue a trend that saw 158 probationary inspector vacancies out of 225 and 596 constable positions out of 1,620 filled in 2020.

Tang said the force has rolled out two policies that allow those who joined before or after 2000 to stay in service until the age of 60 instead of retiring at 55.

Starting in July 2018, the Civil Service Bureau allowed officers joining between June 2000 and June 2015 to choose to retire at 55 or 60.

For those joining the force before June 2000, the police allowed officers to extend their service beyond the prescribed retirement age last April up to the age of 60.

The policies will see more than 17,000 officers stay in active service in the coming decade.

"The force has been adopting proactive recruitment strategies based on the human resources situation in the market to attract high caliber candidates," Tang said.

"It will continue to monitor the human resources situation, implement effective mechanisms to formulate holistic plans and assess future manpower needs, and regularly review officers' establishment in order to meet the service needs of the community."

Thin blue line keeps dwindling