PSNI request for extra officers from Scotland a 'reality check' says former senior cop

Former senior police officer Jon Burrows has told UTV the PSNI's request for assistance from Police Scotland should act as a sobering reality check, and he has urged politicians to ensure that policing is funded properly.

Dozens of Scottish officers are arriving in Northern Ireland to bolster the ranks of the PSNI. The force has been stretched as they deal with the ongoing disorder.

Officer numbers in the PSNI sit at 6,300, – well below the 7,500 recommended in the Patten Review more than 20 years ago.

“I think the Executive and the Northern Ireland Policing Board need to ask serious questions for themselves,” said Burrows.

“They've let the police now get into this state where we need support from Police Scotland to deal with what was relatively limited, although high impact violence and mutually isn't the answer, because by the time you get public order officers in from Scotland, it takes a week.

“And now that public order has dissipated, thanks to the good investigative work by the PSNI, so mutually, it's not the answer. The answer is a well and properly resourced police service.”

UUP leader Doug Beattie said “fundamental change” is needed to ensure the PSNI is adequately resourced.

“The headline is that our police, which should be sitting at 7,500 officers according to the Patten Review of Policing, is actually sitting at 6,300 officers,” he said.

“Yet that doesn’t tell the whole story because from that 6,300 you need to remove those on long-term or short-term sick, those on maternity leave and those either assigned to an important desk job or are close to retirement.

“The available ‘officers on the beat’ figure is likely to be below 6,000. This creates an unbearable pressure on the force and on individual officers who are asked to do more with less.”

He added: “If politicians in Northern Ireland are not willing to stand up and address this then we cannot complain when our Chief Constable grabs the nettle and delves into the political arena to save the force he commands.

“This is a line in the sand for policing in Northern Ireland, we need fundamental change, including direct support from the Home Office.

“The recent riots, with paramilitary influence, combined with ongoing Republican terrorism are without a doubt a threat to national security and our police are on the front line of that threat.

“They need support and they need resources if we, as a society, are to turn this around.”

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