Euro 2012 - Poland's police short of 8,000 officers

photo - sxc.hu

“The [negative] balance at the end of March was 7,900,” says Police HQ spokesman Krzysztof Hajdas.

“There is nothing surprising about this, as every spring there is a large wave of people leaving the police,” Malgorzata Wozniak, a spokesman for Interior Ministry, told the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper.

“We have carefully planned how many police officers we will need in each city hosting the tournament,” she added.

But critics argue that the usual vacancy list usually amounts to between 2 and 4,000 officers at any one time.

“Something is wrong, at a time when the police have a great challenge during the biggest event in years,” says chairman of the parliamentary commission of interior affairs, Marek Biernacki.

Police face several possible threats to security during the championships which begin on 8 June.

Aside from the usual concerns about hooliganism at a time when hundreds of thousands of fans will be travelling from abroad, trade unionists have vowed to stage protests against government plans to raise the retirement age and other policies. (pg)