APPENDIX 3
Memorandum submitted by the Northern Ireland
Retired Police Officers Association
Our organisation represents the interests of
seven and a half thousand Retired Police Officers. We submit herewith
for your consideration our concerns in respect of the current
position of the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland,
hereinafter referred to as "the Office":
1. Following the legislation to set up the
Office pressure was brought to bear to allow for the investigation
of older "historic" cases which arose before the setting
up of the PSNI, on the allegation that the public were not satisfied
with investigations prior to the setting up of the "new"
police force. The Office even went so far as to write to the Law
Society to enquire of solicitors to see if they were satisfied
with the treatment which they had received from the police during
earlier investigations. There seems to be a culture within the
Office of "shopping" for cases to further increase the
workload of the Office, also as part of the denigration process
of past RUG operations.
2. The Office is not just reactive to complaints
but is intrusive in seeking out cases for attention. The result
of this over zealous activity is to divert police attention and
time from other more important activities at a time when the force
has already been depleted in numbers, to a dangerous extent, and
where future cuts are planned with special reference to the Police
Reserve.
3. In England and Wales the Police Complaints
Commission for England and Wales has a staff complement of 60
personnel, whereas the Office has a staff of between 120 to 130.
This would appear to be an excessive strain on the Exchequer.
4. We have the perception that the Office
is engaged in a witch-hunt against former members of the RUG in
order to discredit them. In the investigation of "historic"
cases the Office staff are often aggressive to the point of treating
our Members as if they were the criminals.
5. In a recent extensive interview in the
Belfast News Letter, 6 July 2004, David Wood, the executive
director of the Office, was very critical and clearly set out
to blacken the name of the RUG much to the annoyance and distress
of our Members. He said furthermore that the PSNI were now "highly
competent", yet they still lack the resources and experience
due to lack of manpower and experienced detectives. However, Her
Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Kenneth Williams reported
that all areas of policing are not as competent as Mr Wood would
have us to believe. Such statements from the executive director
seriously damage the impartiality of the Office. We take the view
that such officials should go quietly about their business without
making controversial statements for public consumption.
6. Recent statistics from the Office itself
indicate a total lack of confidence from serving Police Officers
in the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. This
is a view which is shared by our Members.
7. We are given to understand that in a
submission to your Committee Mrs O'Loan stated that, should a
complaint be made against her staff such a matter would be investigated
by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. However, when
our organisation wrote to the Secretary of State on this very
point we were informed that the Government had no supervisory
powers over the Office since it was completely independent from
Govemment.
In conclusion to our submission we feel most
strongly that some system of supervision and accountability should
be applied to the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern
Ireland.
15 October 2004
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