A full time Special Operations Group, and more officers in Launceston remain a priority for the Police Association of Tasmania ahead of this year's state budget.
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The promise to fund 20 new police for the SOG was made in November last year, but to date, that recruitment has not been completed.
Premier Peter Gutwein also promised 50 new police over the next five years, but union president Colin Riley said it was important at least 27 of those officers were committed to Launceston.
"We know that there are hotspots around the state, therefore an extra 27 officers of the 50 are committed for Launceston in a criminal investigation capacity where gun crime continues to be a major issue for the greater Northern community," he said.
Mr Riley said he was confident the Premier, and the state government, would deliver on its promises.
"We are more than confident that Premier Peter Gutwein will, but we also want to ensure that funding directed to Tasmania Police translates to the designated areas," he said.
"The Police Association has campaigned for many years for a full time statewide Special Operations Group.
"However, we are still waiting for the recruitment to the group to commence and be completed. That would mean filling the SOG positions and recruiting another 20 officers to backfill their roles."
While Tasmania Police had ramped up its recruitment, Mr Riley said the police academy was still falling behind.
"Tasmania should have a further 138 officers in the ranks by 1 July, 2022, so we will watch this space closely," he said.
"Currently, there are 100 police officers on open workers compensation claims out of 1345 police officers statewide.
"This includes 55 for psychological injury, of which 31 are fully incapacitated and away from work. In addition, 10 police officers have received workers compensation payouts in the last three years for psychological injuries and unable to return to policing."
Police Minister Jacqui Petrusma said the 20 additional officers would be allocated to the SOG by June 2024.
"The 2020-21 state budget included $8.9 million to employ an additional 20 police officers over four years to support Tasmania's COVID-19 response capacity in areas such as quarantine checking, compliance and assessment, who will, following their COVID response responsibilities, transition to become full time Special Operations Group positions," she said.
"We are recruiting 308 additional police, a 30 per cent increase from 2014."
The budget will be delivered next Thursday, August 26.
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