Following independence in 1980, the force had a strength of about 9,000 regular personnel and a further 25,000 police reservists (nearly half of whom were white Zimbabweans of European ancestry). After independence, the force followed an official policy of "Africanisation", in which senior white officers were retired, and their positions filled by black officers. In 1982, Wiridzayi Nguruve, who had joined the force as a Constable in 1960, became the first black commissioner of the force. He was then succeeded by Henry Mkurazhizha.