Published Friday, 06 November 2009
The widely-expected move by Matt Baggott, set in motion by his predecessor Sir Hugh Orde, means the 440 officers will be gone by March 2011.
The DUP had pressed for retention of the reservists as part of its price for the devolution of policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland.
But the Chief Constable said that, having commissioned a security review, he was convinced he had the right level of resources.
'Disastrous'
Terry Spence, chairman of the Police Federation, said: "I regard this as a disastrous step, one which flies in the face of the present security threat as underlined by this week's report by the Independent Monitoring Commission.
"The disbandment of the Full Time Reserve strips a major asset from the strength of the PSNI at a time when officers are struggling to deliver an adequate policing service to the whole of Northern Ireland and while their lives and those of their extended families are at great risk of attack, as has been witnessed in recent months."
Sinn Fein supports the abolition of the Full Time Reserve as part of the new start for policing.Policing Board member Alex Maskey welcomed plans to get more officers out from behind desks and onto the streets.
He said: "I am encouraged by the Chief Constable's very strong verbal commitment to make sure we get more officers out into the community to build trust and, on that basis, we will actually make sure we have a much safer community."
But one of his DUP counterparts, fellow Policing Board member Basil McCrea said the Chief Constable has questions to answer: "He has to explain why relatively inexperienced officers can replace more experienced officers."
Disbanding the reserve was recommended in the 1999 Patten report on reforming policing and bringing in more Catholics after the end of IRA and loyalist violence.
Mr Spence said: "I believe that politically the chief constable is between a rock and a hard place, between those irresponsible politicians demanding that the Full Time Reserve should be disbanded and his duty of care to the officers of the PSNI."
Dissident threat
Mr Baggott said he recognised there was an ongoing threat from dissident republican terrorists, adding he would seek to "reassure both the public and officers that their safety will always be a priority."
"We are satisfied that the correct response must be to proceed with the phasing out of the Full Time Reserve and to use our regular officer establishment more effectively, with police officers doing policing jobs," he said.
"Significant numbers of officers must be released from non-police duties to enhance our frontline visibility, and in particular neighbourhood policing. I will work with my Senior Command Team to drive this forward."
He said the people of Northern Ireland owed a tremendous debt of gratitude to the men and women of the reserve.