The perceived failure of the police has encouraged people in working class areas to turn to paramilitary groups for help, reports Suzanne Breen, Senior Northern Correspondent, in the second of a two-part series
'Ring the cops? I'd rather ring the Taliban," says Eamon McCotter as he does his weekly shopping in the Kennedy Centre in west Belfast. The "Police Service of Northern Ireland" isn't a term used in Andersonstown. Everyone still refers to the "RUC".
"Nobody could expect us to trust the police," says Eamon's wife Anne . "The only thing they ever did in this community was harass and arrest republicans. The people who ran the RUC still run the PSNI. Changing the force's uniform and name means nothing. The Brits tried that sort of thing with the Maze but it was always Long Kesh to us." Peter McCarthy says it will be years before the PSNI is even partly accepted. "West Belfast has never had a positive experience of the police. They weren't interested in tackling crime here. The joyriders would tear up and down the road and you would see the police just watching from their Land-Rovers.
"When joyriders were arrested, they would be offered immunity from prosecution if they agreed to spy on the IRA." The most prevalent crimes in west Belfast appear to be joyriding and drunken assaults. There are numerous complaints of young people hanging around corners drinking, smashing windows, and abusing residents. Brendan Muldoon, a taxi-driver, says on average he will see 10 stolen cars speeding up the road every night. He doesn't have faith in the PSNI. "Look at the Castlereagh stuff. Either the police are totally incompetent - and how can they sort out crime in the community when they can't look after their own documents? - or else it is just more Special Branch skulduggery."
A pensioner in the Poleglass Estate, who doesn't wish to be named, says the police do nothing about local crime. "We are tortured by the hoods. Our windows have been smashed twice in the past month. I'm 82 and my wife is 78. When the police come in they just let the hoods get on with it." Many people interviewed believe only the IRA can effectively "police" west Belfast. There is considerable support for "punishment" attacks.
"The problem is there isn't enough of them," says another pensioner in Poleglass. "Punishment attacks might be a rough form of justice but if we were to rely on the police, there would be no justice at all," says his son.
"Joyriders have plagued this community for years. They have killed women and children."
While opposed to "punishment" attacks, former IRA prisoner Anthony McIntyre admits they are popular in the community. "It's ordinary people who go to the Provos because the police aren't interested. This is a role the Provo leadership increasingly doesn't want. People complain that the only time hoods are targeted is approaching an election." Mr McIntyre believes the PSNI will eventually be accepted in west Belfast. "When Sinn Féin takes its seats on the Policing Board - and that's only a matter of time - there will be a change of attitude in this community.
"There will always be a general working-class suspicion of the cops. Some people will never accept any Northern Ireland police force but others will. We should remember the Donegal Celtic football club in Lenadoon was initially prepared to play the RUC until there was pressure from Sinn Féin." Some west Belfast residents hope the police will become acceptable locally. "Who are the Provos to police this community?" asks Mary Barr. "What right have they to act as judge, jury and executioner? We have to give the police a chance. We need to co-operate with them and help bring down the barriers."
Bernie Heaney says: "We have never known proper policing. It would be great to have police officers patrolling the streets whom you could trust. There have been changes to policing and I hope they're enough. If the police become fair to nationalists, I'm prepared to work with them."
On Shankill Road, many people believe the policing reforms have been disastrous. "Kids are running crazy around here and the police do nothing," says George Thompson. "Most of the older officers became totally disillusioned and either retired or are on the sick. The new ones haven't a clue. The police were once respected on this road but those days are gone."
"We don't have a police service," says Lorraine McDowell. "The government have run it down to the point it exists in name only. There is no law and order."
Glencairn community worker Jimmy Creighton claims the police are rarely seen in the area.
"A few years ago we would regularly see the RUC out on the beat but those days are gone. Some local youth now think they have a license to do what they want on the streets. There has been a rise in joyriding. It's a cross-community thing. Kids from the Falls and the Shankill race up and down the road in the same stolen car."
The paramilitaries in Glencairn have generally been reluctant to become Policing in Northern Irelandinvolved in unofficial "policing", Mr Creighton claims. "But if the PSNI doesn't get its act together and increase its presence, that will change. It would be a sad development because everybody would lose."
First Police Recruits Graduate Today
1.The first Police Service of Northern Ireland recruits graduate today.
They will be the first officers in the North not to have any official connection with the former RUC or its predecessor, the RIC.
2.The PSNI was created in November as suggested in the Patten report on policing.
Sir Ronnie Flanagan became the service's first chief constable.
3.The service marks a clear departure from the RUC in key areas.
It is monitored by an independent Police Ombudsman and by the Policing Board, a 19-member authority made up of appointees from political parties and non-party public life.
4.The new policing dispensation seeks to establish a service as opposed to a police force.
Today's recruits, who are accepted on a 50:50 Catholic/Protestant or others basis, will graduate rather than pass out in the older more militaristic sense.
5.New police officers will receive an academic qualification from the University of Ulster and the vice-chancellor of the university will be present.
6.Restructuring of policing will also see the disbandment of the full-time police reserve and the merging of Special Branch (intelligence gathering) with CID (crime division).