Members of the Policing Board were told last Thursday that there will be no reprieve for the 500-strong full-time reserve (FTR).
The pool of FTR officers will finally be cut from police ranks in line with the Patten reforms that transformed the RUC into the PSNI eight years ago.
Reserve officers will start to leave the service next March and will all be gone by March 2011, Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde confirmed.
It is a decision which will impact on every area of Northern Ireland, including Dungannon and South Tyrone where 13 FTR officers are based.
However Sir Hugh has insisted that his decision to scrap the reserve will not impact on frontline policing, and has said gaps left by the outgoing reserve will be filled by non-operational officers.
Of the 13 FTR officers based in the borough, it is understood that three are involved in local neighbourhood policing units.
A fourth is based in Clogher and is the only officer currently involved in response policing.



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