Policing in the Community with the Community

I really enjoy and look forward to the opportunity to visit the officers and staff who deliver frontline policing across Northern Ireland.

The chance to get out on patrol and meet with members of the Community is a welcome break from the challenges and rigour of governance meetings and paperwork. It also serves as a reminder that our central ethos as senior officers is to support effective service delivery to the public.

This morning I met with officers and staff in Ballymena and went on patrol in the town centre and Portglenone area. Human nature is such that many people take the time to tell me what exactly they think of their Police Service. Sometimes they will tell me about things that haven't been done well and it's really important I hear those personal stories first hand. But often they take time to pay tribute to the excellent work which the Service is delivering across every community.

I am not saying that we get everything right all of the time, but when I visit local areas I am reminded just how dedicated and committed your local police officers and staff are as they seek to deliver personal, professional and protective policing.

We simply cannot deliver this on our own and that's why it is absolutely critical that local communities proactively support their local police, by taking the time to tell them what is important to them, and by reporting any information or suspicious activity which might help the police to keep them safer.

Today I heard first hand how people in the Ballymena area are working with their local police to make their community safer and to address those issues which matter most to local people. It's very easy for people to become self consumed and to leave this important task to others.

I thank those of you who whether as individuals, community organisations or statutory partners support and work with your local police. Many of you I know do this out of a sense of vocation and without you, your Police Service simply couldn't do what it does.