Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows, a former senior PSNI officer, has responded to today's report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) into the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Jon Burrows MLA said:

“Today's inspection report confirms what many of us have been warning about for years: the PSNI is a service under severe pressure as a direct result of sustained underfunding and insufficient officer numbers. That reflects poorly not on the men and women of the PSNI, but on the politicians who have failed to give policing the priority and the resources it needs.

“It is deeply concerning that the deployable strength of the PSNI now stands at fewer than 5,000 officers once sickness and other health-related absence is taken into account. No police service can sustain the level of demand facing the PSNI with so few officers available on the ground.

“The shortage of detectives is particularly alarming, above all within Public Protection, given the levels of harm being inflicted on women and children in our society. Victims of the most serious crimes deserve timely, thorough investigations, and that requires properly resourced investigative teams.

“The report also underlines the human cost of these pressures. Cancelled rest days, relentless overtime, fatigue and burnout are taking a real toll on officers' health. It is clear that psychological support services for officers must improve. We ask our police to run towards danger and to deal daily with trauma most of us will never see, and we owe them proper care in return.

“On recruitment, the PSNI is working hard to attract a diverse range of officers, but there is clearly more to do. Ultimately, we all share a responsibility to promote policing as a worthwhile and honourable career, and politicians in particular must do far more to champion those who serve.

“The report identifies issues of procedure and recording around the use of force and stop and search, and these must be addressed. But the public should take genuine reassurance from the inspectorate's finding that the PSNI uses both powers fairly, reasonably and proportionately.

“Overall, this report is a mixed bag. It describes a service under serious pressure: overstretched in workload, starved of resources, and struggling as a result to recruit and retain officers, to keep them healthy, and to deliver the policing service every community in Northern Ireland needs and deserves. The Executive and the Government must now respond with a sustainable, multi-year funding settlement for policing. Our officers, and the public they protect, deserve nothing less.”