APPENDIX 2
Memorandum submitted by the Community
Relations Council
INTRODUCTIONThe Community
Relations Council (CRC) welcomes the opportunity to respond to
the Inquiry into the Functions of the Northern Ireland Policing
Board. In our response we have concentrated on issues relevant
to community/good relations.
CRC recognises the huge task of the Policing Board
as a relatively new organisation established to address a very
complex area of work. The structures and issues addressed have
clearly advanced policing in NI. To date, much of the work has
focused on the structures, systems and codes of the PSNI. We now
believe that it is timely for the Policing Board to focus on improving
the quality of relationship and al service, including dealing
with the legacy of conflict, most particularly the legacy of poor
relations between the police and some sections of NI society.
POLICING BOARD
MEMBERSHIPPatten recommended that
the nine independent members of the Policing Board be drawn from
a range of different fields including business, trade unions,
voluntary organisations, community groups and the legal profession
who would be:
—representative of the community
—have expertise to set policing priorities
—be able to monitor and comment on different
areas of police performance ranging from management structures
and processes to human rights issues.
It would appear that the membership of the Policing
Board could be more representative of NI society than it currently
is, eg only two out of the 19 Board members are female. Clearly,
the political make up of the board also suffers from the fact
that there has not yet been full political agreement on participation
in the PSNI. These issues should be kept under constant review
and addressed directly each time the term of a Policing Board
ends. There may also be opportunities for discussions and support
from external agencies, including CRC.
MEETINGS HELD
IN PUBLIC
1.The Policing Board holds the Chief Constable and the police
service accountable for the general direction of policing. It
is important that the Board and Chief Constable report regularly,
honestly and openly on developments in addressing sectarianism
and racism.
2.Sectarianism and racism can be addressed in a proactive
way by the Policing Board. This might be achieved by holding themed
meetings in public on issues which are evidently resulting in
real current problems, such as racist attacks in South Belfast.
In addition to public notices about these meetings, relevant individuals
and groups should be directly invited along.
3.The Chief Constable makes a short statement at
the public, and a more lengthy report at the private, Policing
Board meetings. In the interests of transparency, CRC recommends
that the Chief Constable report more fully at public meetings
on matters including:
—current issues and issues of concern to
the public including sectarian and racist problems and police
responses in these areas
—progress on meeting the targets of the
policing plan. HUMAN RIGHTS,
EQUALITY, AND
COMMUNITY/GOOD
RELATIONS1.The recent engagement
of Keir Starmer QC, a barrister with human rights expertise, to
advise the Board is a very welcome development. CRC recommends
that Policing Board members are also provided with regular support
and training in good relations and human rights to allow them
to carry on their duties fully. CRC would be willing to work with
the Policing Board on the design and delivery of good relations
support packages including cultural diversity and conflict resolution
programmes for Board members.
2.CRC has a particular interest in the Policing Plan
objective relating to equity of treatment, which emphasises the
need to build and sustain confidence in the Police Service and
police accountability arrangements in all sections of society
in Northern Ireland. In particular, CRC is interested in the development
of better performance indicators measuring confidence in equity
of treatment. We would be happy to assist the Policing Board in
developing a range of measures in this area, as it is of particular
importance in ensuring the broad legitimacy of policing in Northern
Ireland.
SECTION 75The PSNI
is required to comply with section 75 of the Northern Ireland
Act. It is important that the PSNI continues to provide information
to the Policing Board on issues such as:
—PSNI impartial treatment of citizens and
groups
—the make up of PSNI to reflect people
from different religious belief, political opinion, gender and
racial group
—if the PSNI is promoting a neutral environment
—if racism and sectarianism are adequately
addressed in training
—if the PSNI is conducting cultural audits
and surveys (the Patten Commission developed a cultural audit
which could be adapted). HATE
CRIMEAs of this moment, PSNI has
no uniform public definition of what constitutes a sectarian crime
or incident. CRC would welcome the opportunity of further conversations
with the police and other associated agencies with a view to developing
and implementing a system for recording, addressing and monitoring
sectarian incidents and crime. This work should also include reviewing
how racist incidents are recorded, to consider if incidents involving
people from minority faiths should stand alone or if they should
be included within the sectarianism category.
Although the Policing Board identified sectarianism
as an important societal and criminal trend, it is not formally
reflected in the targets of the Policing Plan 2004-07. The Plan
makes no reference to sectarianism and offers no definition. We
are aware that the PSNI and an interagency cross sector forum
is working with communities, to define criminal sectarianism and
racism to help inform hate crime legislation and we are anxious
to promote and accelerate this work. CRC also welcomes the fact
that hate crime legislation in NI will be expanded to include
crime involving political opinion. CRC will continue to support
this developing area of work.
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONSCRC commends the
Policing Board on its work to date. It acknowledges that advancements
have been made in very difficult circumstances and hopes that
the Policing Board builds on its successes, addresses gaps and
contributes to building an effective, accountable and acceptable
police service for all.
CRC hopes that the Policing Board will find the recommendations
contained within this paper helpful and offers its services should
it wish to pursue any joint work in the area of policy development
and training in community/good relations.
20 August 2004
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