Help us save lives

The selfishness and recklessness of the people who planted the bombs on the Antrim Road this week beggar’s belief.

Over the past few days, I have closely monitored the painstaking operation to make the area safe and return it back to some form of normality. These operations take time and I want to thank the public for their patience and the sense of community extended to those who for safety reasons, had to leave their homes.

I have listened to accounts from residents, politicians, community representatives and business owners about how the life of the local community has been disrupted. How the people responsible can justify their actions to their neighbours is beyond me.

By good fortune, the lives of local people and police officers protecting the community have been saved. These devices were there for only one reason, to kill. Just think how many people must have walked past them as they hired and returned DVDs to their local store - many of them children and young people no doubt.

The second device, clearly targeted at police and army personnel responding to the incident was placed behind a Scout Hall. There is no such thing as a responsible bomb, but to place a bomb at premises where young people gather brings irresponsibility to a new low.

These people have tried kill many times before and will try again . Our efforts to frustrate, detect and put them before the courts will continue. We have had many successes to build on, but we still need your help and support.

If you know anything about this or any other similar incident, please come forward directly to the police or anonymously to Crimestoppers - telephone number 0800 555111 and tell us what you know.

Ultimately it's the information which you provide that could make the difference, and literally save the lives of people in your family, your community, your police service.

Condemnation and celebration

The bomb attack at the City of Culture offices in Derry earlier this week showed a complete disregard for the local and wider community, and the desire of the vast majority of people to celebrate everything that is good about Northern Ireland.

The device exploded in the early hours of the morning and those responsible had absolutely no way of knowing that there would not have been people in the area at that time. Quite clearly, they didn’t care.

It is not that long ago that Derry City was celebrating it’s successful bid and selection as the UK City of Culture 2013. I understand that plans are well under way to make it a year to remember for all the right reasons, putting the City and Northern Ireland, well and truly on the map.

I join with the local politicians, community representatives and business leaders to totally condemn those who were responsible.

In 2013, Northern Ireland will also host the World Police and Fire Games. The Police Service of Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and Northern Ireland Prison Service will host approximately 10 000 Law Enforcement Officers and Fire-fighters from around the world who will compete in a wide variety of sporting events. It will be the biggest sporting event Northern Ireland will ever have seen.

In the current economic climate this is another fantastic opportunity to demonstrate what Northern Ireland has to offer. It is also an opportunity to showcase this beautiful part of the world as a place that warmly welcomes visitors from near and far, and an opportunity to attract much needed income and investment to support the local economy. These are things which all right thinking people want and those responsible for the recent attack clearly fail to grasp or choose to ignore.

As your Police Service we will continue to do everything we can to prevent, frustrate and detect the small minority who continue to carry out acts of terror.

As a community I would again call for your full support in doing so.

A New Year, new decade and new challenges

As many of us return to work following one of the coldest festive breaks for generations, over the past number of weeks, your Police Service has been busy helping people across Northern Ireland.

I’m aware of many incidents where police officers have come to the aid of snow bound families and motorists, or helped by distributing water to communities affected by the recent thaw, burst pipes and subsequent water shortages.

The arrival of a New Year and decade also brings new challenges for the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

I look forward in anticipation to a year of opportunities to demonstrate how the Police Service of Northern Ireland is working to become the finest personal, protective and professional police service in the world.

My hope for 2011 is that the people and communities of Northern Ireland will not experience the disgraceful acts of terror, which were not only attacks on individuals but on the entire community of Northern Ireland.

I think in particular of those police officers who were injured, for no other reason other than they have chosen to serve the people of Northern Ireland. I also think of those members of the community, in some cases young children, who were victims of terrorist attacks last year. The New Year brings a new opportunity for us all to work together to help keep all of our communities safe.

Later this year, The Police Service of Northern Ireland will be ten years old. Since its inception, no other police service anywhere in the world has so effectively and positively embraced such a huge degree of change. We are continually developing into a service that is listening more and more carefully to the community - a policing service that everyone can support and be proud of.

There is no doubt that 2011 will be challenging on many fronts. Financially, whilst our discussions with local and national government to secure a significant funding package are at an advanced stage, the efficiency targets set in the proposed budget will be extremely challenging to meet.

This means that we must continue to identify and deliver efficiencies without compromising on the service we deliver. The terrorist threat has not diminished and we will continue to do everything we can to frustrate and detect those who seek to cause harm. And later in the Spring of this year, we will publish our policing commitments to you, so that you can be clear on the standards of service you can expect from your police service.

We will do everything we can to ensure that we deliver on everything that we have promised, but in return, I again ask you to fully support us in our efforts to keep all communities safe - whether that is safe from crime or anti-social behaviour, safe from danger caused by hazardous weather conditions, or safe from terrorism.

Together we can ensure that we deliver, and that you receive the police service that we all want.