THE PSNI has amassed a backlog of nearly 300 unanswered Freedom of Information requests amid budget problems and staff shortages.
It amounts to more than a fifth of requests for information made to police so far this year.
Public transparency watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has been informed and is keeping the issue "under review".
A transparency campaigner described the backlog "worrying" and warned that "policing will go unscrutinised" if problems persist.
Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation gives people a right of access to an array of information held by public bodies.
Often used by campaigners and journalists, FOI has helped expose issues including the MPs' expenses scandal and Prince Charles's lobbying letters to ministers.
Under the law, public bodies must reply to FOI requests promptly and within 20 working days.
However, for months there have been significant delays to the PSNI's responses to many FOI requests.
When contacted by The Irish News about the issue, the PSNI confirmed there were 273 FOI unanswered requests that had not been responded to within the legislative timescale.
It blamed an "increased demand" for FOIs, staffing issues and budget cuts.
In a statement, assistant chief constable Alan Todd said the PSNI has met with senior ICO officials to discuss the backlog.
He said in 2016 the PSNI received 1,462 FOIs, a further 1,622 requests in 2017 and 1,270 in 2018 so far.
"In addition to this increased demand, a number of staff left PSNI under the Voluntary Exit Scheme in 2016/17 and this, alongside cuts to the policing budget which impacted on our overall staff levels, affected our ability to respond to FOI and data protection requests," he said.
"At the moment, we have a team of 16 staff who work in the Corporate Information Unit and carry out a range of duties including responding to FOI requests. Following the necessary approvals, we hope to appoint further staff in due course. Of course, it will take time for these new staff to complete detailed training procedures so that they understand how the FOI and data protection legislation operates.
"We are working hard to reduce the number of FOI requests which currently remain unanswered. There are currently 273 FOI requests which have not yet been responded to within the legislative timescale of 21 days. We are aiming to reduce this number by a further 43 over the next 48 hours.
"PSNI continues to work closely with the Information Commissioner's Office and has updated it on our plans to reduce the backlog."
Maurice Frankel, director of Campaign for Freedom of Information, described the backlog of unanswered FOIs as a "worrying figure".
"For many requesters a delayed response may make the information useless when it eventually arrives," he said.
"If PSNI's replacement staff are not yet in place, then still more requests are going to be delayed, the delays will become even longer and still more aspects of policing will go unscrutinised."
An ICO spokeswoman said: "We are aware that Police Service Northern Ireland has been experiencing delays in processing freedom of information responses, and we are keeping the existing situation under review as we would any public authority."
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:: Analysis: Another worry in how north's public bodies deal with FOI
SINCE its introduction more than a decade ago, the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act has become a well-established tool to unearth details about public bodies.
It allows people to obtain a variety of information held by public authorities, albeit with numerous restrictions.
While many FOI requests are inconsequential, the law has regularly been used to uncover important details and issues that otherwise would never be disclosed.
It has particularly become a frequent recourse for campaigners and journalists when public bodies are less than forthcoming with information.
But its operation and effectiveness as a check for government transparency relies on public bodies upholding the act, both in law and in spirit.
The issue was thrown into the spotlight at the RHI inquiry in March, when Stormont's chief civil servant revealed that some meetings were deliberately not minuted to avoid FOI disclosures.
The startling claim by David Sterling has prompted a separate investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office to assess the Northern Ireland Civil Service's compliance with FOI.
Another senior civil servant, Andrew McCormick, told the inquiry that Stormont parties' fears of leaks led to a "culture of very limited record-keeping".
He also said it was reasonably common for executive ministers to use personal email accounts such as Hotmail for government business rather than Stormont's IT systems.
Such RHI inquiry revelations have already raised questions over the standard of governance in Northern Ireland when devolution was fully functioning – adding to the pitfalls preventing its restoration.
The scale of the PSNI's backlog of FOIs will only add further weight to these concerns.
