04/12/2001
Policing report notes excellent start to reforms
The Oversight Commissioner for Policing Reform has said in his latest report there has been an excellent start made to reforms of the police in Northern Ireland.
The Oversight Commissioner Tom Constantine said in his report published on Tuesday December 4 that the change from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland was “the largest and most complex such task undertaken by a law enforcement agency”.
He said the creation of the Policing Board and first wave with 50-50 Catholic and Protestant recruitment were “very important first steps in beginning the enormous amount of change that will take place”.
Mr Constantine is overseeing the implementation of the changes, which are creating the Police Service of Northern Ireland – which replaced the old Royal Ulster Constabulary on November 4 this year.
The Patten Report “A New Beginning Policing in Northern Ireland” recommended the appointment of an Oversight Commissioner from outside the UK and Ireland. He is responsible for overseeing implementation of all 175 recommendations of the Patten Report.
Although Mr Constantine’s report found a “lack of documentary evidence” of policies and plans provided by the service to help them assess progress, he said his team understood from briefings that many were in place or would shortly be in place.
“However, many of them were not available, but there is a reasonable explanation for a lot of that. We did not give them a very long period of time to supply these documents," he said.
The report said the expected period for fully implementing the changes would be between seven and 10 years.
He said responses to requests for documents relating to training, education and development was “disappointing”.
“Virtually every request for documents in this area was either not available or not finalised,” he said.
The report said documentary evidence of administrative progress on issues involving special branch was not available as of 1 October.
However, he expected those issues would be addressed and corrected for future reviews. (AMcE)
The Oversight Commissioner Tom Constantine said in his report published on Tuesday December 4 that the change from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland was “the largest and most complex such task undertaken by a law enforcement agency”.
He said the creation of the Policing Board and first wave with 50-50 Catholic and Protestant recruitment were “very important first steps in beginning the enormous amount of change that will take place”.
Mr Constantine is overseeing the implementation of the changes, which are creating the Police Service of Northern Ireland – which replaced the old Royal Ulster Constabulary on November 4 this year.
The Patten Report “A New Beginning Policing in Northern Ireland” recommended the appointment of an Oversight Commissioner from outside the UK and Ireland. He is responsible for overseeing implementation of all 175 recommendations of the Patten Report.
Although Mr Constantine’s report found a “lack of documentary evidence” of policies and plans provided by the service to help them assess progress, he said his team understood from briefings that many were in place or would shortly be in place.
“However, many of them were not available, but there is a reasonable explanation for a lot of that. We did not give them a very long period of time to supply these documents," he said.
The report said the expected period for fully implementing the changes would be between seven and 10 years.
He said responses to requests for documents relating to training, education and development was “disappointing”.
“Virtually every request for documents in this area was either not available or not finalised,” he said.
The report said documentary evidence of administrative progress on issues involving special branch was not available as of 1 October.
However, he expected those issues would be addressed and corrected for future reviews. (AMcE)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.