'No room in police service for ex-terrorists'
Ex-terrorists with clear records must never become future police officers in the North, the British government was warned today.
Even though Secretary of State Peter Hain insisted there will be no place in the ranks for convicted paramilitaries, those suspected of involvement but never jailed should be banned as well, according to Irwin Montgomery, chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Federation.
“We cannot countenance a situation whereby even the co-conspirators of terrorists can pretend that their dark past can remain hidden and for them the bright future beckons of a career in policing,” he said.
Some senior officers and unionists fear one-time IRA men may eventually seek to join up once the Sinn Fein leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness endorse the new policing arrangements.
Mr Montgomery told his annual conference near Belfast: “This is what we are facing – that in return for promised progress on the peace, ex-terrorists may not only have their records expunged, but their unconvicted colleagues may take up service with the very police officers they wanted to murder.”
With the Provisionals declaring an end to its campaign and preparing to dump all weapons and explosives, London, Dublin and Washington believes that final act of arms decommissioning will be a hugely significant move towards republicans embracing Chief Constable Hugh Orde and his Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Once that happens, young republicans will be free to apply to serve in what still remains a largely Protestant organisation.
But with a 50-50 recruitment policy, Catholics now account for 18% of the 7,500 regular police officers, an increase of 10% since a massive reform programme was introduced five years ago.
There are also 900 part-time members of the reserve force as well as almost 1,200 full-timers, although half of them will be phased out within the next year as part of a scaling down process of that section.
All applicants are subjected to an intensive and rigorous vetting procedure. Hugh Orde and Sir Desmond Rea, chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board have also made it clear there can be no ex-terrorists among the new recruits.
But Federation chiefs fear Sinn Fein, and loyalists, will seek to control the policing of their own areas with members serving as community support officers.
Mr Montgomery claimed: “Unless these moves are stopped in their tracks by the wider community showing its revulsion at the prospect, then we will see a sectarian led cantonisation of operational policing.
“Inevitably, the destabilisation of a society across Northern Ireland will follow.”
The British and US governments are to hold a conference next year to examine the progress of the reforms, but some unionists believe it may be aimed at introducing further changes to make the service more acceptable to republicans who want politicians to have greater influence in policing and justice.
With the investigative powers of the police ombudsman’s office and scrutinising role of district policing partnerships, the Democratic Unionists and the Ulster Unionists claim there is sufficient accountability, but Sinn Féin has not ruled out attending the review.
At today’s conference Mr Hain said he was concerned at the way the issue of police community support officers had erupted.
“Let me be crystal clear, so there can be no doubt. There is absolutely no question of a bomber one day becoming a community support officer the next.
“The only circumstances in which we would consider introducing PCSO’s would be as an integral part of police teams, directly under the supervision of district commanders. And as such, recruits would be subject to the same vetting standards as traditional police recruits.”
He added: “There are many good examples of the positive contribution PCSO’s have made to policing across the water. Initial scepticism by some officers in Great Britain has turned to be positive delight as PCSOs play a valuable role in fighting fear of crime.
“The Policing Board and police service are considering whether they could potentially play an effective role in making communities in Northern Ireland safer.”
