50:50 recruitment is still main ambition for force: PSNI chief
DEPUTY Chief Constable Stephen Martin has said the PSNI’s “ultimate ambition” is to have a force reflective of the community in Northern Ireland and made up of even numbers of Catholic and Protestants.
He was speaking at the final Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting of the year yesterday.
There have been calls for the return of the 50:50 recruitment policy which aimed to promote Catholic numbers.
“There are a number of external pressures affecting our ability to recruit,” Mr Martin said, ahead of a PSNI recruitment drive in the new year.
“The threat from dissidents, legacy matters, these things are toxic to our ability to recruit from certain sections of the community.”
Mr Martin said meetings have been taking place involving all sections of the community.
“We have met with representatives and have local engagement plans across all 11 policing districts,” he said.
“For the first time we will be organising showcase events in civic spaces around the country.
“The final piece will be an independent advisory panel targeting six groups from which we are seeking to recruit new personnel; Catholics, working-class loyalists, females, ethnic minority, disabled and LGBTQ.”
Statistics show 32% of the PSNI workforce is from the Catholic community, with 29% of the total female.
“In our broadly divided community the ultimate ambition is for 50:50 Catholic to Protestant,” he said.
DUP board member Mervyn Storey said his party’s opposition to 50:50 recruitment would not change.
“What we can’t have is a drive to tick boxes. The focus should be on getting the right officers employed, not the wrong officers from the right background,” he said.
Mr Martin maintained the new recruitment process would be a “merit-based process”.
“But diversity is a really good thing,” he said.
“We want to be representative of the society we serve.”
Chief Constable Simon Byrne told the meeting that the benefits of having more officers in the community can be seen in the results of the PSNI’s Season’s Greetings campaign.
“The number of drink-drive arrests is already just shy of 200, which is up a third on last year,” he said.
“That might be because the harder you hunt, the more you find. Presence on the street is key.”
He warned that budget constraints could lead to the PSNI “living within their means” in the new financial year in a bid to reduce overtime costs.
“There will have to be hard choices on visibility levels,” he warned.
He also said he will be asking for more frontline officers to deal with Brexit issues.
“We have an oven-ready plan in place and that is being dusted down.
“Now it is about turning the lens from the border to the ports, so we will be asking for people,” he said.
“There is a continuing threat from dissident republicans but also potentially for ports if the arrangements are seen to be adverse to Northern Ireland.”
Mr Byrne said they are looking at the supply of body armour for potential recruits from other UK forces.
“We are still awaiting clarity but the service is already stretched and there are overtime concerns. We need more frontline officers,” he said.