Doug Beattie MLA: PSNI needs funding, not ‘warm words’

Responding to the news that Chief Constable John Boucher had considered asking for mutual assistance for his homicide detectives after the tenth murder in less than three months, UUP MLA Doug Beattie said:

‘I believe the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are doing the best they can with limited resources, poor staff levels, and underfunding. Apart from a few warm words from the Justice Department, who couldn’t even be bothered to bid for funding in the last monitoring round, the PSNI have gotten on with the job. 

The stark admission from the Chief Constable that he was close to asking for mutual assistance in the form of homicide investigators should heap pressure on the Justice Minister and the wider Executive to take policing seriously in Northern Ireland.

With ten homicides in as many weeks, it is clear to see that the PSNI need resilience in the form of homicide investigators while also dealing with mounting community policing issues. Homicides are difficult, complex, and resource-heavy investigations which use multiple agencies and specialists from within and outside the force. 

The public must be reassured, and have confidence, that the police have the capacity to conduct these investigations fully. To achieve this, the issue of policing must climb to be more than an afterthought following yet another tragic murder.

The Minister has played a hands-off role, citing ‘operational matters’ or the tripartite arrangement between her department, the policing board, and the PSNI. However, in adopting this strategy, she has left the issue facing the PSNI with no political champion, meaning the Chief Constable is the only person willing to tell it as it is.’