It is both deeply regrettable and undeniable that there is a crisis at the heart of policing in Northern Ireland. With the resignation of the chief constable, a vote of no confidence in the deputy chief constable from rank-and-file police officers, and a series of data breaches - which are among the largest ever to have taken place in the UK or Ireland - it has been a chaotic month for policing in the region.
While resignations are always disappointing for those involved, the strong focus of the Catholic Police Guild of Northern Ireland is on the specific issues faced by Catholic officers and staff, alongside the wider structural and cultural issues that face the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) today.
Those Catholic officers – and there are roughly 2,000 - joined the police in the full knowledge of the risks it posed to their personal safety. They show commitment and dedication to protecting their communities, which I believe is not fully understood or acknowledged elsewhere in Ireland and the UK.
It is still the case that the vast majority of PSNI officers carry personal protection weapons in the North – and indeed they must have that option, given the continuing threat from dissident republican groups, who have murdered serving Catholic PSNI officers and carried out attacks as recently as February this year. The risks to their lives are daily - and, unlike gardaí, many PSNI officers are unable to tell their families and friends what their real job is.
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That is why last month’s data breach was so serious. I am already aware of one Catholic PSNI officer who has left the service. That is also why, when asked, my advice was that if a PSNI officer was fearful of a threat to his or her life while going about their daily routine, even when attending Mass, they should keep their personal protection weapon with them.
Attacks on police, judiciary and their families resulting in death and injury regularly took place during the Troubles, and sometimes outside Catholic Churches. It is important to acknowledge that the threat to all PSNI officers is still real, and the risk to Catholic PSNI officers particularly so. In security terms, everything must be done to protect all our staff on foot of the data breach. It is equally important in the long term that real policies are put in place to ensure that the police service is representative of the entire community it serves, and that joining the police continues to be an attractive career option for young Catholics right across Northern Ireland.
The issues facing the PSNI and the entire policing structure in Northern Ireland, however, go deeper and wider than those that have become clear since the recent data leak and High Court judgment. The end of 50/50 recruitment in 2011 stopped what had been significant progress in recruiting more Catholics to the service. Now, in 2023, Catholics make up 26 per cent of the PSNI. In Northern Ireland, Catholics are still more likely to be arrested, charged and subject to stop-and-searches by police here than any other group. A police service that does not reflect the society it serves is designed to fail.
The Patten Report was a landmark for policing in Northern Ireland, and the leadership of Sir Hugh Orde put us on a path of genuine and, we hoped, irreversible change. While much of the PSNI embraced the letter of the Patten Report, sadly some - including in senior leadership positions - failed to engage in the spirit of the required change. While Catholic PSNI officers are not the only group who have given voice to this feeling, I am in contact daily with individual Catholic officers who feel isolated or excluded by colleagues.
Honesty is required, however, about how we have arrived where we find ourselves today – with an absent leadership, a demoralised service and an unwillingness to face up to the issues raised by minority groups, including Catholics – and a police service that, day-to-day or week-to-week, is plagued by negative headlines.
What we need is a police service that recruits from and represents the entire community of Northern Ireland. Twenty-five years after the Independent Commission on Policing reported, it is time once again for a complete and independent review of policing in Northern Ireland.
The current proposals from the policing board, that it review the senior management of the PSNI and that the Department of Justice review the policing board, amount to an insufficient and inherently flawed review process. It is impossible for a policing board that has put itself under review to, in turn, review the management of the police service itself.
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The review proposals on the table will not deliver the change needed.
A new independent police review – led by policing and criminal justice experts from outside Northern Ireland - can undertake a complete review of all policing structures: the PSNI itself, the policing board and district policing partnerships. It can produce a report with recommendations within a one-year period. This is vital if we are to move policing forward in Northern Ireland.
Police services across the UK and Ireland have been subject to similar reviews. Baroness Casey’s one-year review of the Metropolitan Police Force resulted in findings of the utmost gravity – and consequent reforms are having an impact.
The journey towards building a police service that was acceptable right across the community in Northern Ireland was long and difficult. The good work undertaken by thousands of individuals – officers and civilians – cannot be undone by an absence of political leadership locally or by a reluctance on the part of the policing board to take the necessary steps. The PSNI is full of professional and motivated officers who put the protection of their community first every day they go to work. An effective and independent review can safeguard the wins made in policing over the last 25 years and secure them for the future.
Superintendent Gerry Murray is chair of the Catholic Police Guild Northern Ireland