A strategy of "intimidation of people involved in policing" is affecting the pace of progress in implementing the Patten recommendations, Oversight Commis-sioner Tom Constantine, right, has said.
He said that the clearest examples are the attempts to use force and violence to deter citizens from becoming police officers, members of the Policing Board or the District Policing Partnerships.
Mr Constantine said equally destructive to the concept of policing with the community is a climate of vigilante justice, as evidenced by punishment shootings, punishment beatings and, in some cases, brutal executions.
This climate of intimidation, Mr Constantine said, can only be countered by honest, courageous and committed community leaders, political parties and elected officials who support the rule of law.
"The ultimate objective of this strategy of intimidation is clear: To undermine the intentions of the Patten Commission to bring about policing with the community, by a police service representative of and accepted by the society it polices," Mr Constantine said.
In a report published today (Wednesday) Mr Constantine identified another significant external factor, police funding, which is affecting progress.
He said the necessity for "predictable and adequate financial support" is an especially critical element in replacing many police facilities, including the existing training college, the condition of which "can only be described as deplorable".
It also must be some cause for concern that this report bluntly states that the Office of Oversight Commissioner has continued to request evidence of progress or completion on several unresolved recommendations, often without success.
Although the commissioner's reports continually specify that any lack of progress should be measured against an overall record of substantial progress in many areas, it is increasingly difficult to explain the lack of resolution in certain important recommendations.
Mr Constantine admitted that "this lack of results" can undermine the otherwise excellent progress that has been made on the vast majority of recommendations.
A summary of some unresolved issues shows:
- that the condition of many police stations in Northern Ireland are so seriously below standards for modern day policing that they are in need of immediate replacement. There is still not a coherent short or long-term strategy for addressing this, and government has not provided adequate funding
- there is a continuing problem of not providing a significant number of district commanders and their officers with all their civilian support staff. The police service's policy on devolution of authority is still not as clear as it should be
- as of September 2003 the police service had yet to develop a concrete plan for the implementation of an early warning system on police conduct
- the commission was clear about the need to restructure Special Branch and the initial police service proposal was inadequate. An evaluation in September showed little or no evidence of progress. And it was only last month that a detailed plan has been provided which establishes firm time lines for reforms. This is viewed as "a first step"
- the importance of the issues involving the structure of Special Branch are such that failure to implement the recommendations of the independent commission "in a timely manner" can significantly impact the perception of success in the overall programme of police reform
- regarding the planned phase out of the full-time reserve it is important to provide its members with appropriate severance and retraining to facilitate their transition to other careers
- although the recruiting programme for new constables has been very successful there is still a need for complete and full support from the entire Northern Ireland community.
- the police service and the Policing Board will need to address the problem of attracting and retaining Catholics in the direct recruit civilian staff. The percentage of Catholic staff only increased from 12.3% in 1999 to 13.7% in 2003. This pace of change will not achieve a representative and balanced civilian workforce in the forseeable future
- the existing police training facilities at Garnerville and Sprucefield are inadequate. There "is no reasonable explanation" for such a delay in provide the police service with a new college
- there is a need for the police service's training branch to provide courses and programmes for the decentralised District Command Units.
Despite these concerns however, in an introduction to the ninth report from the office of the Oversight Commissioner, Mr Constantine, outlined what he described as the dramatic and positive changes that are taking place in the policing of Northern Ireland.
And in the context of a brief overview of some of the important accomplishments Mr Constantine and his team pointed to overall progress as being excellent. He emphasised that the Policing Board and the police service have introduced a human rights based approach, a code of ethics which includes a new oath, human rights training, appraisal and monitoring systems and the hiring of a human rights lawyer to provide guidance.
There is also now a multi-layered system that increasingly holds the police service accountable to citizens. The police service, with the support of the board, the District Command Units and policing partnerships, has established community policing as a core function including dedicated neighbourhood units, foot patrols and professional crime and complaint analysis.
Mr Constantine said that a strategy has begun to be initiated that places an emphasis on devolving authority from headquarters to a cadre of talented and dedicated district commanders.
This new strategy, which places a premium on local authority and responsibility, includes normalised patrol vehicles, less reliance on the military, documented controls on the use of emergency powers, state-of-the-art holding facilities for suspects, which include video surveillance, and inspections by lay custody visitors.
He said that also in place are improved methods of public order policing, which includes conditions for the approval of parades and research on less lethal alternatives to the plastic baton round.
In addition Mr Constantine referred to improvements in police sickness absence policy and supervision, and a substantial funding source for police widows and injured officers.
He said there has been important progress on information technology infrastructure.
Again and again in this report Mr Constantine devolved a theme that in order for policing reforms to really take hold in a manner envisioned by the independent commission it is essential that all of the political leaders "provide leadership and support" to all of the changes.
This is Mr Constantine's ninth and final report. His successor as Oversight Commissioner will be Al Hutchinson (a former executive in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) who takes over the position in January.
