Police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has defended herself from a charge of
appearing biased to unionists because she's the wife of an SDLP
councillor, declaring: "I am not the tool of any political party." At a
Commons Northern Ireland Committee investigation into her role, DUP MP
Gregory Campbell put it to her that a police ombudsman who was the
spouse of a DUP councillor "would be in some difficulty gaining
confidence in the nationalist community." Mrs O'Loan retorted that she
had backed measures which nationalists tended not to support: the use of
plastic baton rounds and CS spray for riot control and the survival of
the Special Branch.
Praising Mrs O'Loan for her "integrity and impartiality" and rebuking Mr
Campbell, committee chairman Michael Mates said: " We should not go into
personal matters."
Backing for Mrs O'Loan came from deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton,
who said her role had become " a tremendous boon to building confidence"
and from Policing Board chairman Des Rea, who declared her office was "
an integral part of the policing architecture."
MPs' questioning focused on three main criticisms of her role: too
little accountability; lack of confidence from PSNI members; and the
"residue" of her blunt criticisms of former RUC Chief Constable Sir
Ronnie Flanagan after the Omagh inquiry. Since Omagh, a new
relationship had been built up and her recommendations for reforming
Special Branch were being "assiduously pursued", said Professor Rea. DCC
Leighton added that if her criticisms had helped the police focus on "
the real issue of who planted the bomb and who killed the people, it
will have been beneficial."
Mrs O'Loan was "very concerned" about survey results showing only 13% of
PSNI members thought she was impartial and 42% believing she was "out to
get them." But that result was contradicted when officers had real
dealings with her office -61% declaring satisfaction at her handling of
complaints against them.
Her judgements had contributed to some of the best police training in
the world, said Mr Leighton. Surprisingly, firearms handling fell below
GB standards, because officers took them home for personal protection.
Mr Mates supported Mrs O'Loan's call for legal changes to allow her to
offer mediation in dealing with some police complaints.
