PPA chief: Personnel drain may lead to cuts in service
An exodus of officers from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) is a serious issue, one which is causing the authority to consider what areas of service it may have to cut out, PPA Director Elmar Vaher said Friday morning.
Speaking to ERR's Vikerraadio, Vaher said: "It would be complicated to say, the case of a call-out, that OK, we will come tomorrow. There are those tasks where the image of the entire country hinges on the work of the PPA."
"We have to start thinking about what we won't be doing," Vaher added
A newly-started PPA officer should receive 1.2 times the national average, to ensure their valuable training does not go to waste, Vaher added. "This will also help retain existing PPA personnel."
IN addition to wage issues, the PPA faces personnel shortages – around 120 in Harju County, the most populace region of Estonia, but proportionately comparable shortages nationwide too.
While the Ppa is constantly on the look-out for cost cuts, such as those made in August which boosted the wage of PPA officers on patrol to the tune of €75 gross, this, ultimately amounts to redistributing poverty, and is no longer sufficient, Vaher said.
An article which appeared in daily Postimees (link in Estonian) Thursday reported that more people left the PPA than joined, in three of the four years, 2017-2020.
In 2021 meanwhile, whereas 615 people left the force, only 260 joined.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
