The Sri Lanka Police is set to recruit 10,000 new personnel in the near future to address a severe shortage of officers within the force, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasooriya announced today.
The IGP made the announcement while attending the opening ceremony of the Senior Deputy Inspector General’s Office in Uva Province.
Addressing the gathering, IGP Weerasooriya said approval for the recruitment drive had been granted after the President and the relevant subject minister were briefed on the shortage of human resources and inadequate infrastructure affecting the police service.
According to the IGP, the police force is currently operating with a deficit of approximately 38,000 personnel.
He noted that around 2,000 officers leave the service each year due to retirement and other reasons, making regular recruitment essential to maintain operational capacity.
“After informing the President and the Minister about the lack of required human resources and insufficient infrastructure for officers, we received permission to recruit 10,000 personnel,” the IGP said.
He stressed that without continuous recruitment, the force would continue to face an annual loss of more than 2,000 officers, further widening the existing manpower gap.
