Policing in Northern Ireland

Rezensionen / Stimmen

Since a multi-pronged approach to combatting 'Premier League' crime will have its rough edges at times, a mature democratic society must ensure the police act in a way that secures public confidence and support. The Northern Ireland Policing Board was created to ensure the accountability of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland. This book graphically sets out how this responsibility was consistently discharged - against a background of, at times, severe public and political pressures and complex, emotive criminal investigations. "The proposed revisions for the policing services in Northern Ireland are the most complex and dramatic changes ever attempted in modern [policing]history". Thus wrote the first Police Oversight Commissioner and American law enforcement expert, Tom Constantine. This book tells the tale of that fascinating - and highly successful - journey, largely through the 'eyes' of Northern Ireland's first cross-community police accountability body, the Policing Board. The reader will find it a comprehensive study that offers valuable lessons and insights for law enforcement officers, accountability 'bodies' and academics world-wide. I was fortunate to have worked with the Policing Board. I saw first-hand how the Board worked collaboratively to resolve issues and overcome seemingly unsolvable challenges. This book captures the excitement and drama of the historical challenges of policing in a divided community and provides great lessons for others who face daunting challenges. This should be required reading for anyone who cares about organisational change and what is possible when principled people are determined to make a difference. Endorsements of 'Policing in Northern Ireland - Delivering The New Beginning' 1. 'Since a multi-pronged approach to combatting 'Premier League' crime will have its rough edges at times, a mature democratic society must ensure the police act in a way that secures public confidence and support. The Northern Ireland Policing Board was created to ensure the accountability of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland. This book graphically sets out how this responsibility was consistently discharged - against a background of, at times, severe public and political pressures and complex, emotive criminal investigations.' Sir Dan Crompton, former Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire and one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary, who himself played a key role as an adviser to the Policing Board. 2. 'It was indeed a pleasure to review this remarkable tour de force. The authors have, in an evidential fashion, provided much more than a journey down memory lane. They have allowed us, through the prism of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, to glimpse the reality of the normative journey of change where the nexus between the political and peace process in Northern Ireland was not always evident. The Policing Board in these times served as a proxy for political progress. It was - and remains - a key institution linking the political and peace processes. This is an astute and scholarly recounting by the authors who were not only witnesses, but played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace journey. I commend this book to interested academics, historians, local and international practitioners of justice reform programmes, and of course others.' Al Hutchinson Former Police Oversight Commissioner and Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland 3. 'I think this is a well-researched, carefully chronicled and humanely recited account of what was one of the most significant periods of change within UK policing. Much of what was pioneered and achieved over this period is now almost taken for granted in other policing settings; that it all happened so recently and so fast is testimony to the determination and dedication of those involved.' Fraser Sampson, Chief Executive and Solicitor at the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire 4. '"The proposed revisions for the policing services in Northern Ireland are the most complex and dramatic changes ever attempted in modern [policing] history". Thus wrote the first Police Oversight Commissioner and American law enforcement expert, Tom Constantine. This book tells the tale of that fascinating - and highly successful - journey, largely through the 'eyes' of Northern Ireland's first cross-community police accountability body, the Policing Board. The reader will find it a comprehensive study that offers valuable lessons and insights for law enforcement officers, accountability 'bodies' and academics world-wide. I was fortunate to have worked with the Policing Board. I saw first-hand how the Board worked collaboratively to resolve issues and overcome seemingly unsolvable challenges. This book captures the excitement and drama of the historical challenges of policing in a divided community and provides great lessons for others who face daunting challenges. This should be required reading for anyone who cares about organisational change and what is possible when principled people are determined to make a difference.' Chuck Wexler, Executive Director, Police Research Executive Forum, (Washington DC) The changes recommended in the Patten Report to provide for a modern accountable police service in Northern Ireland were an essential ingredient of the political deal reached in the Belfast Agreement and the successful implementation of the Report resulted in cross community support for the PSNI which had never been given to the RUC. The implementing measures put human rights and accountability at the heart of the new policing. That the PSNI story is a successful one, and that the police are supported across the community, owes much to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The Board was at the core of ensuring accountability. The authors detail the changes as they happened but they also place the reform in its international and political context and do not duck some of the difficulties which occurred and the problems, especially with the past, which remain. This is an important book, one which could be of use to others involved in police reform. The authors are to be commended for an extremely authoritative account. As members will be aware, issues in relation to policing in Northern Ireland are rarely straightforward and since the establishment of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) at the time of partition in April 1922, the agenda in relation to the enforcement of law and order has been dominated by a political one. Accordingly, that agenda and the associated political violence formulated the policing style and strategies of the RUC. That was a major issue at the time of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and for the subsequent Patten Report published in 1999 and recommended not just a different style of policing, but also a new service, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Both authors were extremely close to that evolvement, Desmond Rea as the first Chair of the Policing Board for Northern Ireland and Robin Masefield, a civil servant in the Northern Ireland office. The proximity to the events themselves, or even being involved in them, is a constant feature throughout this book and it is clearly a book that has been written with both considerable authority and academic prowess. The book is quite lengthy containing some twenty-one chapters; but can equally satisfy both the avid and voracious reader and the dipper alikeFor example, Chapter 12 is entitled Personality matters and details the appointments of well-known Chief Officers, such as Sir Ronnie Flanagan and Sir Hugh Orde; often accompanied by some exceptionally well-informed anecdotes, that perhaps actually brought this book alive and reminded the reader that we are actually dealing with people as opposed to a perfunctory political process.The book as would be expected is ideal for the police historian and the first chapter covers the origins of Northern Ireland and its police. This chapter, given the time period that is covered and the tumultuous changes and events that it both witnessed and participated in, is dealt with succinctly and arguably the book prefers to look forward from 1998 as opposed to harking back to earlier times.After all, we are asked to reflect on that as the title of the book implies. Delivering the new beginning?Consequently, whilst the book is recommended for police historians, it should also be read by contemporary students of policing, as it draws on many features of modern-day police life.Police Authorities or the Policing Board as in the case of Northern Ireland are spoken fondly of, as is the rationale for them; which causes the reader to reflect as to why Police and Crime Commissioners were actually introduced in England and Wales, when an all-Party Police Authority was perceived to be the way forward in Northern Ireland by those holding the highest echelons of political office. Other chapters caught my eye, such as The American dimension and the close professional relationship that has developed with key US police personality figures, such as Bill Bratton, currently Commissioner of the NYPD. This relationship seems to be a preferred one vis-a-vis similar figures on the British mainland; but perhaps the authors would perceive and justify it differently.A most interesting chapter refers to the growing relationship between the two police services on the island of Ireland: the PSNI and the Garda Siochana, so much so that cross-border diversity training has occurred and in certain circumstances, senior officers can apply for vacant posts across the two organisations. Progress indeed.A lengthy, but comprehensive book, expertly structured and written, that provides much more than a mere authoritative account and I thoroughly recommend it to PHS members and non-members alike. Police History Society Newsletter