The new Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Mr Hugh Orde, will be under no illusions about the scale of the professional challenge that lies ahead of him. He has been de facto running the Stevens inquiry into a number of murders in which there have been allegations of security force collusion.
Thus he has already had a unique insight into police procedures in Northern Ireland. He will have had first-hand knowledge of the culture which formed the RUC and of the immensely difficult operational task it faced. Moreover he is fully aware of the fraught political environment in which he will have to lead the PSNI. He is taking up the job with eyes wide open.
At 43, the new Chief Constable is probably not looking at the Northern Ireland posting as the pinnacle of his professional progress. Indeed, his sojourn in the PSNI could offer him the considerable career advantage of being out of the mainstream of British policing at a time of very great difficulty there. For all that the problems they face are very different, it may well be easier to lead the PSNI than the London Metropolitan Police over the next four or five years.
Mr Orde's first objective will be to salve the wounds which have been inflicted on the policing structure of Northern Ireland by a succession of controversies. The hostilities between Sir Ronnie Flanagan and the Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan must be consigned to history. The report of the Stephens inquiry is due to be published in about six weeks and Mr Orde has already promised that it will be "frank and honest" and that it will not "pull any punches." He will have to perform as a skilled diplomat and as a strong, independent leader. At the same time he must retain the confidence of those under his command.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
The new policing structure of Northern Ireland, as set down in the Belfast Agreement, is complex. It provides for an exceptionally high level of accountability to the community. The Chief Constable is one part of a triangular power-structure which also includes the Ombudsman and the Police Board. It will not be easy, in this politicised and delicate environment, to maintain the levels of operational effectiveness which would be a professional police chief's instinctive objective.
In the medium term, Mr Orde's PSNI has to get busy on organised crime and racketeering. The Secretary of State, Dr John Reid, has made it clear that tackling the gangsters who have grown up in and around the paramilitary groups is a priority. It is likely that new cross-border policing linkages will be set up to enable the Garda and the PSNI to move together against these elements.
At the same time, the new Chief Constable will be anxiously watching for Sinn Féin to come on board for the new policing arrangements. That is unlikely to happen before the local elections of May 2003. But it is certain that the PSNI will not be fully effective until all major strands of the community are prepared to support it fully and without reservations. If Hugh Orde's tenure as Chief Constable sees the PSNI accepted right across the community and organised crime smashed, he will have done well.