Staff Shortages in the Romanian Police and Border Police: An Ignored Crisis?
A fundamental issue behind the abuse of forced and unpaid home standby duty is the massive staff shortage within police structures. Official data provided by the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police (IGPR), the General Directorate of the Bucharest Police (DGPMB), county police inspectorates, and the General Inspectorate of Border Police, in response to requests from the “Diamantul” Police Union, reveal an alarming situation: some units operate with a quarter of positions unfilled, and in certain counties, the deficit exceeds 28%.
1. Vacancy Rates at the National Level (February 2025)
| Police Structure | Vacant Positions (%) |
|---|---|
| Teleorman County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Teleorman) | 28.93% |
| General Inspectorate of Border Police | 25% |
| Constanța County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Constanța) | 25.99% |
| Sălaj County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Sălaj) | 25.21% |
| Satu Mare County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Satu Mare) | 24.76% |
| Bucharest (DGPMB) | 22% |
| Ialomița County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Ialomița) | 21.56% |
| Mehedinți County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Mehedinți) | 21.09% |
| Brăila County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Brăila) | 20.45% |
| Buzău County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Buzău) | 18.03% |
| Arad County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Arad) | 18.47% |
| Ilfov County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Ilfov) | 15.3% |
| Olt County Police Inspectorate (IPJ Olt) | 13.28% |
2. How the Lack of Staff Affects the Romanian Police and Border Police
The situation is particularly severe in counties like Teleorman (28.93%) and Constanța (25.99%), where almost a third of police positions remain unfilled, severely impacting the operational capacity of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI).
This shortage of personnel has major consequences:
🔴 Overburdened Police Officers – The shortage forces active officers to work excessively beyond legal limits.
🔴 Abusive Use of Home Standby Duty – Instead of hiring more officers, MAI leadership forces operational structures to compensate for shortages through unpaid, forced standby duty.
🔴 Increased Operational Risks – In counties with severe staff shortages, response times to incidents increase, and officers must manage complex situations with insufficient personnel.
🔴 Challenges in Major Cities and at Borders – Bucharest operates with a 22% deficit, while border counties such as Constanța, Mehedinți, and Arad have between 18% and 26% of positions unfilled, affecting efforts to combat cross-border crime.
3. Why Aren’t More Officers Hired?
Although the staff shortage is well known, the government and MAI leadership avoid allocating funds for hiring new police officers. The reasons are clear:
✅ Cost-cutting measures – Police salaries represent a significant expense, and the government prefers to impose austerity measures.
✅ Vacancy Freezing Policy – Instead of ensuring stability, decent working conditions, and competitive wages, the government and MAI prefer to keep positions unfilled to ease budget pressures.
4. A Hypothesis Worth Investigating
A seemingly irrational but plausible explanation for the persistent staff shortage and MAI’s refusal to improve conditions is that the government may intend to offer salary incentives, but the central MAI leadership, led by Cătălin Predoiu and Bogdan Despescu, deliberately limits access to these benefits.
One concrete example is the salary increase of up to 30% under Article VIII of OUG 26/2024 (“Bayraktar”). Although this ordinance was meant to raise police salaries and compensate for difficult working conditions, MAI leadership appears to have restricted its application, ensuring that only a small minority of personnel benefit from it.
Some Evidence Supporting This Hypothesis:
🔴 Unjustified “Very Good” Performance Requirement – To receive the full salary increase under OUG 26/2024, officers must have a “very good” performance rating, which automatically excludes a large portion of the workforce. This is an unjustified and discriminatory requirement meant to limit the number of beneficiaries.
🔴 Double Disciplinary Penalty – If an officer is disciplined, they not only receive a sanction but also lose the salary increase under Article VIII of OUG 26/2024. This measure has no legal basis and represents an abusive interpretation imposed by MAI leadership.
This raises an important question: Why does the government attempt to improve police salaries while MAI leadership actively restricts officers’ rights?
5. Conclusion: Staff Shortages and Lack of Funding – The Root Cause of the Abuses
The illegal and unpaid home standby duty is a desperate solution to a chronic problem: the lack of police officers in the system. Instead of complying with European labor laws and ensuring decent working conditions, MAI leadership shifts the burden onto officers, forcing them to compensate for missing colleagues without proper compensation.
Urgent Measures Needed:
🔵 Hiring a sufficient number of officers to cover the deficit
🔵 Eliminating the abuse of forced home standby duty
🔵 Ensuring compliance with legal working hours and police officers’ salary rights
Without deep reform, the Romanian Police and Border Police will continue to operate in crisis mode, with severe consequences for both public safety and police working conditions.
Alin Rusu
Leader of SPRD – STPF Suceava Organization
