The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) will not be able to send resources to assist the Garda as it did during last month’s Dublin riots if officer numbers continue to fall, the North’s Chief Constable has warned.
Jon Boutcher said the number of police officers in Northern Ireland is at its “lowest ever level” at a maximum of 6,358, more than 1,000 fewer than the 7,500 recommended strength of the force.
He warned that if the decline continued there would be fewer than 6,000 PSNI officers by 2025 and this would make policing Northern Ireland according to its current operating model “untenable”.
The PSNI is facing a budget shortfall of £52.5m this financial year, including the funding necessary to introduce a 7 per cent pay increase for officers.
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Addressing the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs on Wednesday, the Chief Constable referenced the support provided by the PSNI during last month’s riots in Dublin and the “green uniforms” of the PSNI assisting the Metropolitan Police in London during recent protests.
The PSNI “is the first port of call, because we’re an armed service and we are experienced in dealing with these issues, so we provide an element of resilience with regards to mainstream policing because of our specialist skills,” he said.
“That support [to the Garda] I think partly, firstly reassured officers that with water cannon, the Commissioner was there for them and they were getting the actual kit they needed to deal with any challenges they may face on subsequent nights [and] it sent a message to people how they would be dealt with.
“We will get to a position, because of the numbers we’ve been talking about ... where we simply won’t be able to do that,” the Chief Constable said, adding that this would mean “we will be having some very difficult conversations with people, that includes when we get the call from other organisations like the Met to help us, we simply won’t have the resources to send to them.”
Mr Boutcher also said this would also mean police officers would no longer be able to accompany people suffering from mental health problems in A&E departments.
“We routinely sit in hospitals with people suffering from mental health challenges whilst doctors go and attend to other patients ... you get to a position where there’s more police cars sitting in the accident and emergency car park than there are actually patrolling the streets and responding to 999 calls.
“Those sorts of decisions have been made by me about how we are going to have to reduce those services, and our priorities ... doesn’t include looking after people in hospitals like that, there’ll have to be other provisions made for that.
Summarising the factors affecting PSNI recruitment and retention, the newly-appointed Chief Constable said he had come into the post during the “most severe financial crisis not just facing the PSNI but public services in Northern Ireland” and while the North’s political institutions remain in suspension.
Other challenges included the “flow of officers now because, I think, the cost of living crisis, pay issues in the PSNI ... the data breach, the challenges of being an officer today, some cultural issues that have been identified, and finally and not least the threat.”
“The strategic priority for this organisation is to be properly funded,” he said.
Additional reporting – PA.
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