The Police Service of Northern Ireland has launched a recruitment drive for new student officers, with the aim of bringing in more Catholics while not losing the support of the mainly Protestant loyalist community.
PSNI management hope to bring in 400 new members, which would lead to a net increase in strength from the current 7,000 to about 7,100 when retirements and departures are taken into account.
Speaking at Police Headquarters in Belfast, Chief Operations Officer Pamela McCreedy said it is important to maintain "the pipeline of student officers" coming through into the ranks.
The PSNI was formed in 2001, replacing the Royal Ulster Constabulary under policing reforms which followed the Good Friday Agreement and the Patten Commission.
Membership of the RUC had been overwhelmingly Protestant, but legislative quotas helped raise the proportion of Catholics in the PSNI to 32% of officers.
That legislation came to an end in 2011 and unionist parties have opposed any reintroduction of legal moves to fulfil any quotas.
But there are fears that there has been a drop-off in the attractiveness of policing as a career within the Catholic community. Last year 24% of new recruits were Catholic.
"The Police Service of Northern Ireland is looking for talented, dedicated people from all backgrounds and walks of life who can offer a wide range of skills," Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said at the launch of the recruitment campaign.
"We are committed to being representative of the communities we serve."
He said there are a number of possible reasons why Catholics have not been joining up in hoped-for proportions in recent years, such as "legacy issues" and others.
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However, they have also stressed that they want policing to retain the support, as a career choice, of the Loyalist community as well, amid some concerns in the region about disenchantment in that sector of the population.
"We will be going into all areas," DCC Hamilton said, in relation to recruitment.
A major multi-media advertising campaign will run for the next three weeks and successful applicants will undergo 21 weeks of training at the Police College in Garnerville, Belfast.
