The Police Service of Northern Ireland is to recruit 150 new part-time officers.
They are to be brought in to work in five districts, Foyle, south Belfast, Newry and Mourne, Moyle and Ballymoney.
The recruits, who will carry out community duties in neighbourhood teams, will not be selected on the 50:50 religious quotas used for the full-time force.
PSNI Deputy Chief Constable, Paul Leighton, insisted he wanted to see applications from all sections of the community.
He said: 'Policing with the community is at the very centre of everything we do as a police service and I encourage people from all sections of the community in these areas to consider applying. It's very important that these officers are fully representative of the community they are working in.
'Indeed, part of the recruitment process involves applicants showing that they have ties with the local community.
'Obviously, living in the area will be one way to do this, but for people who study or work in one of the five districts, or who have close relations living in the area, the recruitment process will be open to them too.'
