Continuing Crisis of Confidence in Policing…

My experience of attending discussions at Féile an Phobail has been remarkably encouraging. Some of the talks have been controversial, some have covered difficult subjects and despite being part of a unionist minority in the room, I have always felt the outlook of the discussions to be positive. I have in the past sent letters to the Belfast Newsletter advocating that we in the unionist community should be developing something similar within East Belfast to coincide with the week after 12^th July.

I initially had some trouble locating the talk on the ‘Crisis of Confidence in Policing’ as it seemed to have been hidden away at the end of a labyrinth of corridors and stairs. Perhaps this was an omen, as this talk was the most depressing talk that I have attended in the past 4 years. The speakers and audience were all pleasant, there was no hostility or unpleasantness but there was an absence of hope for the future.

Ably chaired by Paddy Kelly, the speakers were Mark Thompson of Relatives for Justice, Brian Feeney, Seána Quinn and Máirtín O’Muilleoir and, unsurprisingly, the focus was very much on the legacy of an unresolved past.

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir spoke first and from the start the clear message was that the PSNI had been forced to accept and defend a cultural legacy from the RUC and as such was unable to secure the support of those outside the unionist community.

Brian Feeney spoke persuasively on the decline in the number of Catholic/Nationalist applicants to the PSNI since the DUP persuaded the Tory government to end 50/50 recruitment in 2011, with the number of Catholics applying currently in decline. (See graph)

Mark Thompson and Seána Quinn gave commentary on how slow the process towards justice was perceived to be and how former members of the RUC were perceived to be impeding the progress towards transparency.

There were conversations about the failure of the PSNI to tackle Loyalist paramilitaries and a suggestion that racist rioters were in fact not tackled because they were connected to loyalist groups. There was a discussion of the lack of the use of Irish on PSNI stations and vehicles.

I knew that the audience and panel contained people who had lost relatives to Loyalist violence or even had relatives killed by the RUC, so I was not anticipating a positive perspective on the PSNI. However, there was applause when it was mentioned that during a policing engagement event held at a Twinbrook school, over 400 of the school’s 722 pupils did not attend the Chief Constable’s speech, with the mass absence being authorized by the students’ parents.

Obviously as someone from the unionist community who has taught students who went on to join the PSNI, or the RUC in the past, my perspective on such issues will be different. It seemed to me that some of the audience did not want to see the PSNI succeed in recruiting Catholics or Nationalists to the PSNI. I certainly felt the unrelenting criticism of the PSNI needed to be balanced by some realistic suggestion of what should be done to make the PSNI acceptable.

Most accept that a police service is always a necessary evil. None of us like having our freedoms restricted but we want the freedom of others restrained when they fail to follow the rules that protect our freedoms. (I did not like getting 3 points on my licence for speeding, but I am very much in favour of the police stopping dangerous driving practices.)

This talk did not invite questions or comment from the floor, but I was grateful to the panel who allowed me to speak to them afterwards.

I made the point to the speakers that if we are approaching a border poll, then tensions will rise significantly in N. Ireland and we will need some organisation to keep the peace. If we do not have an acceptable PSNI, what alternative force will we be relying on during a tense border poll?

I also pointed out that many Loyalists would be very surprised to hear people arguing that the PSNI was too favourable towards Loyalist paramilitaries.

When I was invited to make my own suggestions on what needed to change, these were clearly inadequate. I made the obvious suggestion that we need to return to 50/50 recruitment when possible and that if putting Irish signs on police cars or police stations would make a difference, then it was a small price to pay.

That I left this meeting very dissatisfied and depressed is not the fault of the speakers, but it is very clear that our communities need to have a serious think about policing.

Suggestions

The PSNI is no longer responsible for investigating legacy crimes and this should be acknowledged. They are not responsible for protecting the reputation of the RUC – and perhaps discussing these two issues together is a mistake.

We in the unionist community were premature in ending 50/50 recruitment, and restoring it will be complex, as it could restrict overall recruitment. However, it should be restored as soon as is possible. We need more people from outside the unionist community to join and serve their community in the PSNI.

Giving up on the PSNI is not an option for either community. If you walk away from policing then someone else, not of your choosing will take your place. Waiting for a Border Poll to resolve today’s problems is no solution. As we get nearer to a Border Poll, community tensions will inevitably rise. We will need more active policing and whichever way the poll goes, one community will be bitterly disappointed, and we will need sensitive and responsive policing.

Both unionist politicians and republican politicians need to recognise our shared interest in having an acceptable police force. They need to work together to encourage more people from a nationalist background to apply for jobs, serving their community in the PSNI.

As I upload this piece, I note that the DUP are concerned about PSNI recruitment and today have suggested creating a Police Cadet scheme in schools, similar to the Army Cadet scheme. While I do not want to dismiss this out of hand, I fear it would do nothing to attract applicants from outside unionism.