Over the past days, policing has again made the headlines

The debate around the retention of the Full Time Reserve (FTR) is a political one. The final decision on the future of the FTR was made some time ago. The recent announcement by our Chief Constable to press ahead with this timescale is not new but one that has been carefully and extensively considered and planned for some time.

If we are to deliver a successful policing service we must retain operational independence and be able to make decisions about how we work to keep people safe across Northern Ireland. We, as police officers and police staff, have a job to do. And we are determined to do what is right regardless of how difficult that might be.

I believe we are testing our collective resolve to make changes in how we deliver our policing service. We live in the real world, we must live within our budget, we are living within a recession and we are policing a unique security situation.

But we also have a great many officers still doing jobs that do not require a warranted officer to perform. These men and women signed up to be police officers, to work with communities, to reduce harm and deliver a personal policing service. In the coming months, the senior command team in the Police Service will be redeploying many officers back to frontline work, in the areas where they needed most. Some bureaucracy is necessary, but much is not. We must cut down on red tape, on the bureaucracy, much of which comes from outside the organisation and affects the time our people spend out in communities.

In December, at the next meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, our Chief Constable will publicly present his plans for policing here, the strategic priorities by which we will deliver a personal, professional and protective policing service to the people of Northern Ireland. This approach is a step away from what we have done before. I believe it is the right way to go, we will set out our stall and let the people of Northern Ireland hold us to account.

This is a tough call and I am genuinely mindful that people, internally and externally are grappling with major issues. But it is work we must do - we simply cannot afford not to. The majority of our officers must be in operational roles whether that means out on the streets, in neighbourhoods or in investigating serious crime which can also blight communities, but all of us directly contributing towards making Northern Ireland safer. I firmly believe that we can deliver that.