More than 300 police officers will be promoted this year, Maldives Police Service has said.

According to the police website, 331 officers have been promoted. Of these, 166 officers serving in the Male' area were presented with their promotion letters yesterday.

The remaining officers serving in islands outside Male'  will receive their promotion letters locally, police said.

At yesterday’s ceremony, promotion letters were presented to 35 officers promoted from senior sergeant to sub-inspector, 121 promoted from sergeant to senior sergeant and 10 promoted from constable to sergeant.

Speaking at the ceremony, police commissioner Ahmed Mohamed said greater responsibility came with each promotion to a higher rank.

He urged the promoted officers to set an example through the quality of their work, ethics and behavior.

“Ethics is not optional but a fundamental quality that every employee of the top law enforcement agency must have,” Ahmed said.

“The first basic characteristic that should be seen here is the character of the people who are working. Without character, there is nothing we can do for the people,” he said.