Positive perceptions of the PSNI have slipped slightly in the past year, according to the first of a series of reports on surveys of public attitudes to the police, published by the Policing Board, reports Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor.
Positive perceptions of the PSNI have slipped slightly in the past year, according to the first of a series of reports on surveys of public attitudes to the police, published by the Policing Board, reports Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor.
Some 73 per cent of respondents, who were asked how courteous police were, said officers were either very or quite polite. This is down 1 percentage point on last year. There was a marked differential between the responses of Catholics and Protestants, with the latter responding more positively.
In 2001, 72 per cent of respondents had said officers were acting fairly; last year this had dropped to 71 per cent. The drop in confidence was also reflected in responses to a question on local police performance: 67 per cent thought the police did a good or fairly good job, down 2 percentage points from 2001.
The survey results were made available as the SDLP marked the passage of Dáil legislation facilitation which permits Garda membership of the PSNI.
SF appeal over missing man
The Sinn Féin Mid-Ulster MP, Mr Martin McGuinness, has appealed to anyone with information about missing Armagh man Mr Gareth O'Connor to contact the family, reports Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor.
Mr O'Connor, a 24-year-old father of two, went missing last Sunday as he was travelling from Armagh city to Dundalk to sign a bail bond. He was charged with "Real IRA" membership last November, and as part of his bail conditions was obliged to travel twice daily to Dundalk to sign his bail bond.
His family believe a "renegade" unit of the IRA operating in Armagh city abducted Mr O'Connor.
Ransom paid for boy's release
A "substantial" ransom, believed to be around £30,000 (€42,700), has been paid to free a boy whose father was beaten and tortured by kidnappers on the outskirts of Belfast, according to the PSNI, reports Gerry Moriarty. The father, a post-master, and his 11-year-old son were abducted from their home in Greenisland, Co Antrim, by an armed, masked gang yesterday morning, police said.
The son was bundled into the boot of the family's car and driven away while the father was taken away in another car. The father was beaten and tortured, and money was demanded for the release of his son. The father was released in Carrickfergus after four hours and told to bring the undisclosed but "substantial" ransom to Newtownabbey. The boy was uninjured but traumatised.