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Police Service of Northern Ireland

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The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann) is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary which, in turn, was the successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary.

The RUC was renamed and reformed on 4 November 2001 as a result of a Policing Review set up under the Belfast Agreement. This agreement required the creation of an Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, which became known as the Patten Commission after its chairman, Chris Patten. He originally proposed the name Northern Ireland Police Service; however the abbreviation NIPS was thought inappropriate for a variety of reasons. The final decision included in the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 was to rename the force to Police Service of Northern Ireland (incorporating the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC), to be shortened to the Police Service of Northern Ireland for operational purposes.

All major political parties in Northern Ireland, Nationalist and Unionist support the PSNI. At first the political party Sinn Féin, which represents about a quarter of Northern Ireland voters, had refused to endorse the PSNI until Patten's recommendations are implemented in full. However, as part of the St Andrews Agreement Sinn Féin announced its full acceptance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland at a special Ard Fheis on the issue of policing on the 28 January 2007.

The other major nationalist party in the region, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), has joined the Northern Ireland Policing Board and says that it is satisfied that the Patten recommendations are being implemented. In the summer of 2005, the SDLP's Alex Attwood estimated that 80% of Patten's recommendations have been implemented.

In September 2005 the PSNI established the Historical Enquiries Team to investigate the 3,269 unsolved murders committed during the Troubles.

Organisation

In 2007 the old police Divisions and Sub-Divisions were replaced with 8 Districts, broadly coterminus with proposals for new council areas. These Council boundaries have not been set by the Review of Public Administration however, and may change Each District is headed by a Chief Superintendent. Districts are divided into areas, commanded by a Chief inspector and they in turn are divided into sectors, commanded by Inspectors.

Accountability

The PSNI is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland deals with any complaints regarding the PSNI and investigates any allegations of misconduct by police officers. The current Police Ombudsman is former Oversight Commissioner Al Hutchinson who took over from Nuala O'Loan in November 2007.

The Oversight Commissioner was appointed to ensure that the Patten recommendations were implemented 'comprehensively and faithfully' and attempted to assure the community that all aspects of the report were being implemented and being seen to be implemented. The Oversight role ended on 31 May 2007, with the final report indicating that of Patten's 175 recommendations, 140 had been completed with a further 16 "substantially completed"

Recruitment

The PSNI has a positive discrimination policy of recruiting 50% of its officers from a Catholic background and 50% from a non-Catholic background, in order to avert the perceived religious imbalance that existed towards the RUC from Nationalists and as recommended by the Patten Report.The consensia partnership recruit officers on behalf of the PSNI. The name and symbols of the organisation are designed to incorporate both aspects of Northern Ireland's Community. It is hoped that 30% of the force will be made up of Catholics by 2011. By 2006, 20% of PSNI officers were Catholic, compared with just 8.3% of the old RUC .

Policies

In September 2006 it was confirmed that Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie approved the PSNI policy of using children as informants including in exceptional circumstances to inform on their own family but not their parents. The document added safeguards included having a parent or "appropriate adult" present at meetings between juveniles and their handler. It also stressed a child's welfare should be paramount when considering the controversial tactics and required that any risk had been properly explained to them and a risk assessment completed .

Uniform and equipment

The colour of the PSNI uniform is green. Pre-1970s RUC uniforms retained a dark green, which was often mistaken as black, inherited from the later versions of the uniform of the RIC. A lighter shade of green was introduced following the Hunt reforms of the early 1970s, although Hunt recommended that British blue should be introduced as did, subsequently, Patten. The RUC officially described this as 'rifle green'. When the six new versions of the PSNI uniform were introduced, in March 2002, the term 'bottle green' was used for basically the same colour. This was perhaps seen as being a less confrontational description, in keeping with the spirit of the time.

The PSNI badge features the St. Patrick's saltire, and six symbols representing different and shared traditions:

The flag of the PSNI is the badge in the centre of a dark green field. Under the Police Emblems and Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 no other flag can be used by the PSNI and it is the only one permitted to be flown on any PSNI building, vehicle, aircraft or even vessel.

Unlike the majority of Police Forces in the United Kingdom, the PSNI is the only service that patrols an entire regional area routinely armed. With the reduction of terrorist threats, officers are issued Glock 17 semi-automatic pistols, replacing the Ruger Security Six revolvers that the RUC, and later PSNI were issued with. Previously they frequently carried long arms: either the Heckler & Koch MP5 semi-automatic carbine, or rifles such as Heckler & Koch G3s or HK33s as well as Ruger Mini-14 select fire rifles.

Other items of equipment include Hiatts Speedcuffs, CS (irritant) Spray, extendible batons, a first aid pouch, an encrypted radio and a torch with traffic wand.

In May 2005 the PSNI took delivery of its first helicopter, a Eurocopter EC 135. The PSNI (and the RUC) relied heavily on British Army helicopter support during the Troubles and into the 21st century. The helicopter will be used for pursuit, search for missing persons and for managing parades/demonstrations etc.

The PSNI have taken delivery of several Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution patrol cars, in the hope they can discourage people from trying to outrun the police.

The service's headquarters are located close to Cherryvalley, in east Belfast.

Chief Constables

The senior officer in charge of the PSNI is its Chief Constable. To date this position has been held by three people:

  • Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan OBE, from the formation of the PSNI. Flanagan was previously the Chief Constable of the RUC.
  • Acting Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn, from 1 April 2002. Cramphorn was formerly Flanagan's deputy, and with Flanagan's resignation Cramphorn acted as Chief Constable while the Policing Board sought a permanent replacement. Cramphorn is believed to have turned down the post of Chief Constable due to the political expectations that he was required to fulfil, but which he apparently believed were inappropriate at that time.
  • Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde OBE, from 29 May 2002. Cramphorn continued as Orde's deputy until September 2002, when he was appointed Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.

Ranks

  • Chief Constable
  • Deputy Chief Constable
  • Assistant Chief Constable
  • Chief Superintendent
  • Superintendent
  • Chief Inspector
  • Inspector
  • Sergeant
  • Constable
  • Reserve Constable

See also

References

Weitzer, Ronald. 1995. Policing Under Fire: Ethnic Conflict and Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press).

Weitzer, Ronald. 1996. “Police Reform in Northern Ireland,” Police Studies, v.19, no.2. pages:27-43.

Weitzer, Ronald. 1992. “Northern Ireland's Police Liaison Committees,” Policing and Society, vol.2, no.3, pages 233-243.

Footnotes

External links



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