MELAKA, March 18 — The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has 11,111 vacancies for various posts as of January 31, said Bukit Aman Management Department director, Datuk Zaini Jass.

He said of the total, 651 posts involved senior police officers, junior police officers (9,005 posts) and civil servants (1,455 posts).

"Up to January 31, PDRM has a workforce totalling 137,628, including senior police officers, junior police officers and civil servants, and vacancies have occurred due to difficulties in implementing training or courses to fill the posts due to Covid-19 and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in force.

"For this year, we will train some 5,000 individuals to fill the posts of junior officers, taking into account the SOPs. The remaining vacancies are expected to be filled by the end of next year,” he told reporters after the handover of duties of Melaka police chief and Police Family Association (Perkep) chairman, here today.

He said although there are vacancies, it did not affect the force’s readiness in facing the country’s transition into the endemic phase beginning April 1.

In a separate development, Zaini said any police officer or personnel could apply for transfer or work in their home state, but it all depends on the stipulated terms and conditions.

"Our policy does not change. They can apply and it will be given due consideration, but they have to be approaching retirement age, apart from that there are vacancies in the state they applied for,” he explained.

Earlier, Zaini witnessed the handover duties between the outgoing Melaka police chief, Datuk Abdul Majid Mohd Ali, and his deputy, Datuk Razali Abu Samah, who will now serve as the acting state police chief.

Meanwhile, Abdul Majid, 60, who went on mandatory retirement after serving the force for 40 years since December 27, 1982, said he will keep himself busy with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on community welfare. — Bernama