Inspectorate welcomes progress on embedding ethos of Policing with
Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) has welcomed the progress made by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to embed the ethos of Policing with the Community across the organisation in its latest inspection report.
The follow-up review which is published today (4 September 2012) assessed the work undertaken to implement inspection recommendations and suggestions for improvement made by CJI in 2009.
"I welcome the steps that have been taken to place the community policing ethos at the centre of policing in Northern Ireland and the improved levels of accessibility and officer visibility members of the community are now experiencing," said Brendan McGuigan, Acting Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland.
"Inspectors found substantial progress in terms of the resources allocated to support and sustain neighbourhood policing, the development of a revised Policing with the Community strategy, and the implementation of a service-wide call management system."
Mr McGuigan continued: "700 police officers are now involved in undertaking neighbourhood policing duties across Northern Ireland, which represents an investment in one of the most important elements of the overall approach to policing with the community.
"This increased focus on neighbourhood policing is positive, and Inspectors would wish to see this investment protected so that neighbourhood policing is adequately supported and sustained into the future. This will become particularly important, when pressure to sustain officer numbers in other police areas occur," he added.
Mr McGuigan said that progress on the development and implementation of a revised Policing with the Community strategy was positive.
"The PSNI 2020 strategy was developed following prolonged consultation over a lengthy period of time. The result is a strategy which has clear links to the Chief Constable's vision for the organisation and the Policing Commitments," said the Acting Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice.
Inspectors anticipate that bespoke guides to assist the various departments throughout the Police Service to embed Policing with the Community as its core policing style and to monitor progress when complete, will also be of assistance.
The strategy, he indicated, has the potential to ensure Policing with the Community is delivered both in a consistent way across the whole of the PSNI and to communities in all policing districts, and that it continues to be the focus.
In conclusion Mr McGuigan said that Inspectors welcomed the work undertaken to date towards fully embedding the ethos of Policing with the Community throughout the PSNI.
"To maintain these improvements, the PSNI will have to imaginatively use the resources and personnel it has available to ensure policing with the community remains at the core of service delivery in the future," he stated.