“but then found out that is not quite what they were doing..”

A couple of reports to consider on the “refined process” that is the Historical Enquiries Team. The BBC report notes that “In the first year the team had a 40% turnover in staff, while it was about 29% last year. There are currently 180 staff, up from 80 two years ago.” and they have this quote from a HET spokeswoman

A spokeswoman for the HET told the Press Association many members only signed up to the job for a limited period because of the travel. “Many are attracted to work for HET because of the unique nature of the challenge and a desire to help families if possible,” she said. “However, the nature of the work is also very challenging and some people find that after an extended period, they do not want to experience any more of the trauma involved in these cases. “HET currently have a mentoring system in place whereby experienced staff help new arrivals with all aspects of HET work.”

The Belfast Telegraph report, however, includes this quote from NI Affairs Committee member, Sammy Wilson

Party colleague Sammy Wilson, a member of the NI Affairs Committee, said he found the turnover rates “quite alarming”. He said: “I suppose some of the detectives concerned thought they were going to be reinvestigating crimes and bringing people to book, but then found out that is not quite what they were doing.”

He was concerned about the “immense” amount of resources involved and the fact that the HET has only questioned one terrorist under caution to date, despite having completed reviews of over 400 murders and having more than 1,000 under active investigation.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.