The association which represents Constabulary officers is welcoming plans by the federal government to hire 1,000 more RCMP officers across the country but says it’s not something that will happen overnight.

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Association spokesperson Staff Sergeant Mike Summers says they’ve been lobbying the provincial government for more RNC officers for some time.

He acknowledges that bolstering police numbers comes with some significant challenges, and that it will take time to train and recruit more officers.

He says it’s a challenge for every police force across the country.

“Recruiting and retention is an initiative with most police forces right across the country. The problem is getting those numbers and it will take a while to train, certainly if they’re looking at a thousand. We’ve been lobbying our government to get our numbers up to the police to population ratio, so we would like to see our numbers up around 470 members.”

He’s looking forward to discussing the RNCA’s concerns with the new government once it’s up and running.