PSNI should be 'sole authority' in NI

Published Saturday, 13 October 2012
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Chief Constable Matt Baggott has called for the PSNI to be the sole authority in upholding law and order in Northern Ireland.

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Speaking at the Progressive Unionist Party's annual conference in Belfast on Saturday, he said he "would love to see" total paramilitary withdrawal.

"Not just in terms of decommissioning but in terms of people's perceptions, that even though it's happened they are still frightened," he commented. "Although they've withdrawn they haven't. They haven't gone away you know.

"I've spoken about low crime and what we are doing, but I do genuinely believe that's just a start, provided that we can take a step back and make the PSNI the only legitimate authority," the Chief Constable added.

Mr Baggott, who was the guest speaker at Saturday's event, said the PSNI had put 700 officers into deprived areas in an attempt to gain the trust of locals.

"I want your communities to trust us," he said. "The only way to get people to trust us is to tell them that when they phone us it's serious, even if it's not a serious crime matter.

"Because for some, antisocial behaviour blights their lives entirely and if we do not do that, it gives a legitimacy to other people to step into that gap and we need to be the legitimacy in Northern Ireland."

I do believe the PSNI has earned a legitimacy and a right to be the sole authority in Northern Ireland exercising its role in terms of presenting facts. At our heart is the protection of the most vulnerable.

Matt Baggott

He said the parading issue in Northern Ireland was being used as a "political football" and that decisions about marches were political, rather than policing, decisions.

"I do not think there's space anymore for competing authorities on this. If there's to be a debate about the Parades Commission, then that's a political debate. It's not one for the Chief Constable," he added.

The PUP, which has just two Belfast City Councillors, claims to be undergoing a restructuring process and hopes to reengage with working class loyalists.

Leader Billy Hutchinson said politicians who talk about high unemployment rates and poverty are not connecting with those in the deprived areas.

He discussed health, corporation tax and education and said the cultural identity of those his party represents must be considered.

"We are perceived to be sectarian bigots and we are not," said Mr Hutchinson.

"We need to get the language right and we need to challenge those people who are actually running us down.

"Working class Unionists and loyalists are not to blame for every problem that exists in this society but do you know what? They have the problems of this society," he added.

© UTV News
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7 Comments
Gerry in belfast wrote (248 days ago):
so billy hutchinson says he is not a bigot then why did he murder two catholics in the 1970s for?
Big Joe in eire 32 wrote (248 days ago):
These dummies could'nt win a £1 on a lottery ticket never mind an argument about they sectarian bigots there representing from the loyal orders. Lets be honest there's more brains in a false face than there is with these clowns. There probably just looking to see how the can blackmail the other clowns up in stormont into giving them more funding for there paramilitary murals on there gable walls.
Peter in Armagh wrote (248 days ago):
Gary, most people I speak to on the Catholic/Nationalist side agree that these so-called dissident republican groups are a ragtag bunch of amateurs and wannabes who are controlled and manipulated by MI5 and other securocrats to further their own agendas; just as the loyalist groups were for decades. No MI5 and no Special Branch = no terrorists.
Isobel in Lisburn wrote (248 days ago):
MI5 is as necessary here as ere as in the rest of the UK and as the FBI in the USA.
Gary in Belfast wrote (249 days ago):
for Peter in Armagh - the reason why we need MI5 in Holywwod is exactly because of the fact that we have too many operational paramilitary terrorists active to this day. Perhaps if Mr Baggot achieved his vision of total paramilitary withdrawal perhaps we can then look at the need for MI5. Not until then. Common Sense should prevail!!
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