Cambodia Interior Ministry to Further Reduce Central Police Cadre, Boost Local Deployment

Cambodia's Ministry of Interior will further reduce the number of police cadres at the ministry level to increase those at the local level. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sar Sokha, during the closing ceremony of a training course at the Royal Academy of Police on the morning of July 20, 2026. Deputy Prime Minister Sar Sokha expressed satisfaction with the efforts to increase the number of national police officers at the local level, especially at the commune-sangkat police posts. According to the head of the Ministry of Interior, in 2025, the ministry increased the annual quota of national police officers for local police units by more than 70 percent, reducing the new cadre for the ministry to only 20 percent. In 2026, the Ministry of Interior continued to increase new cadres for local police units to more than 80 percent, and this number will continue to increase in the following years, he stated. Sar Sokha acknowledged that the reform results, which aim to deploy more police forces to the local level, are inseparable from reducing the number of cadres that the departments under the Ministry's secretariat are supposed to receive annually. However, he affirmed that the leadership of the departments under the ministry has truly played the role of the owner of this reform and maintains a unified stance to continue this reform for the benefit of the nation and the people. He added that this work has a strategic goal of strengthening and directly supporting the work of officers at the administrative police posts and inspectorates, enabling them to have sufficient capacity and ability to protect security, safety, and provide public services to the people at the local level more effectively, quickly, and in a timely manner. From the aforementioned platform, he emphasized that the results of this reform were achieved due to the meritorious and wise political legacy of former Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Samdech Krolahom Sar Kheng, and the implementation of the leadership principles of Prime Minister Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet, especially in bringing public services closer to the people.