Everyone has a part to play

The events of the past week have shown, yet again, how fragile cross community relations can be.

The disorder in East Belfast was totally unacceptable and I can only imagine what it must have felt like for those people who were caught up in the middle and had their homes or property damaged. No matter what sparked this violence there is absolutely no excuse for it. Once again your Police Service was thrust into a situation not of its making, caught in the middle of two groups of people intent on causing harm and damage to the other.

All too often community leaders are criticised for not stepping up to the mark but I know how much effort, night and day, was put in to trying to restore some form of normality. I applaud everyone who worked together to achieve this. But tensions will remain high over the next few weeks and I encourage everyone of influence, elected and community leaders, to continue to work tirelessly to ensure that those intent on causing trouble do not achieve their ambition.

The Police Service does not want to divert resources away from local communities to police or prevent public disorder. Nor does it wish to spend money which could be better used supporting longer term initiatives to protect local communities and deal with the things which really matter to you.

We will not shy away from our responsibilities and we will seek to police impartially, proportionately and professionally, but you must support us and do everything you possibly can to ensure that tension is reduced and that those who want to cause trouble understand very clearly that they are not welcome.

Whether you’re a parent, a partner, a community or political leader, a person of influence in the community or a local resident please do not underestimate your ability to influence the thinking and actions of others.

This is a time for cool heads and for reflecting on the impact of what we say and do. Everyone has a part to play in reducing tensions and in contributing to longer term peace building in our society - a society which has come so far and deserves so much better than the events of last week.

Policing with the Community Rewarded

I was absolutely delighted to have attended the eighth annual Policing with the Community Awards earlier today.

The awards have been developed by the Police Service in partnership with the Northern Ireland Policing Board and many of the nominations come form the community. I am also very grateful to our sponsors Deloitte, Tesco, Aramark, Fujitsu, Grafton ESP, Sodexo and the Northern Bank.

The aim is to publicly recognise and reward outstanding problem-solving while highlighting the benefits of policing in partnership with local communities. They also seek to celebrate the important contribution that police staff make towards creating a safer Northern Ireland.

This year’s recipients were:-

• Probationer of the Year - Constable Lee Tavinder, F District, Cookstown Area
• Neighbourhood Policing Team of the Year - G District, City Centre Neighbourhood Team
• Diversity in Action Award – B District, Community Safety Team for their Tension Monitoring Group
• Problem Solving in Partnership Award- Organised Crime Branch, Operation Tarros
• Police Officer of the Year – Sergeant John Hughes, Operational Support Department, Armed Response Unit
• Police Staff member of the Year Award – Sharon Anderson, E District, Newry and Mourne Area
• Police Staff Lifetime Achievement – Tina Broderick, F District, Omagh Area
• Police Lifetime Achievement – Constable Derek Friel, F District, Fermanagh Area

The officers and staff who have been rewarded are members of your police service. These are the people who day and daily go the extra mile to ensure that you receive a personal, professional and protective policing service in some of the most challenging circumstances experienced anywhere in the UK.

Some of the examples provided for consideration ranged from a probationer constable who in a very short period of time has made a real difference in the local community; and neighbourhood policing and community safety teams who have grasped issues important to the local community and made a difference.

Other examples included operations against criminality in Money Service Bureaus, resulting in 27 arrests, the recovery of laundered fuel, smuggled cigarettes and seizure of over £1million in cash and drugs valued at £1.75m; a staff member who has dedicated 34 years to supporting front line policing and one who has been instrumental in improving contact management; a Sergeant who has an outstanding record in crime prevention and detection and a Constable who has given 25 years to proactively supporting the local community in Fermanagh.

We are very fortunate to have so many great police officers and staff members and the standard of nominations is always very high, making it extremely difficult to decide on the final winner in each category. There are so many who are worthy of recognition in this way.

I am very proud of all the officers and staff in the Police Service of Northern Ireland who work tirelessly day and daily to deliver a policing service, but especially proud of those who received recognition today. I know that many of you will join with me in offering them your congratulations.

Today is an opportunity for them to celebrate their success but tomorrow each of them will be back, doing what they do best, delivering a police service in your community.

Working together for an even better Police Service

This afternoon, the Chief Constable my Chief Officer colleagues and I held our first formal meeting with the newly appointed Policing Board.

It's hard to believe that the Policing Board, like the PSNI, will shortly mark its tenth anniversary. For those of you are perhaps less familiar with the role of the Policing Board, it was originally established to secure an effective, efficient, impartial, representative and accountable police service which will secure the confidence of the whole community, by reducing crime and the fear of crime.

The Board and its work is an example of how much progress has been made over the past 10 years. A diverse group of political and independent, members from across Northern Ireland regularly sit down together with the ambition of securing the very best policing service possible for everyone, regardless of who they are.

In my experience, working with the Board has been both challenging and rewarding. As a police officer I welcome challenge. Inevitably at times we will not always agree. But despite this, I have absolutely no doubt that the Police Service and the Policing Board share a vision for the Police Service of Northern Ireland to be the finest personal, professional and protective police service in the world.

Whilst the Board plays a very important role, you also have a very important role to play. Not only can you give us your full support whilst we work to keep you and your community safe from harm, but there are also opportunities for your voice to be heard through the network of District Policing Partnership meetings, soon to become Police and Community Safety Partnership meetings.

These meetings give you the chance to engage personally with your local Senior Police Officers and tell them what is important to you. These are excellent opportunities for really constructive conversations, which we really value as a service.

We also value the many less formal opportunities to discuss policing issues with communities, groups and individuals and we are actively seeking more across Northern Ireland.

I look forward to working with the new Policing Board which is a vital component in the accountability and community confidence landscape. But I also look forward to this police service - your police service - working even more closely with you whether as a community, a local group or as an individual, to hear your views on how we can work together to make the police service you receive even better in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.