NI special branch fails to meet reform demands

Though he heaps praise on the agencies involved in overhauling the old Royal Ulster Constabulary for making significant progress in several areas, Mr Constantine expressed concern at the failure to achieve a complete restructure of Special Branch.

Under the Patten police reform recommendations the anti-terrorist unit, reviled by many nationalists as a force within a force, was to be totally merged with CID.

But in his fourth report since beginning work, Mr Constantine said a policy paper issued by former chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan in January only sets out limited amalgamation at command level.

‘‘It describes the Special Branch under one single command, along with the realignment of support units to the responsibility of Crime Branch,’’ he noted.

‘‘The plan provided does not appear to meet the intent of the Independent Commission’s recommendations to bring the resources of Special Branch together with Crime Branch, to improve the effectiveness of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in dealing with violent and organised crime.’’

Mr Constantine’s latest report on progress made in implementing the Patten changes benchmarked efforts made by the PSNI, the North's Policing Board, the Police Ombudsman and the Northern Ireland Office in the period up to January 7, this year.

He praised the Police Board’s early successes in agreeing on a new badge and uniform for the PSNI, and the recruitment drive to balance the force by attracting more Catholics.

But failure to manage sickness absence came in for heavy criticism.

Claiming it will impact heavily on police numbers, the report noted officers take around three weeks off ill every year on average.

Mr Constantine pointed out that police in Northern Ireland average 20.5 sick days during 1999/2000 - almost 8.5 days higher than the average for England and Wales.

Policing Board chairman Professor Desmond Rea has already called for time off ill to be cut to 18.5 days by next year.

But Mr Constantine warned: ‘‘Until this issue is aggressively addressed, police strength and effectiveness will consistently be below their potential.’’

His report also flagged up serious concerns over the adequacy of police resources to drive through changes and progress made in civilianising some areas to get more officers patrolling the streets.

It was equally vital, Mr Constantine claimed, to have the District Policing Partnerships that will complement the Policing Board in place by September as scheduled.

Balancing out his concerns, however, the commissioner praised several areas where the Patten recommendations had already been put in place.

Despite many doubting it could set aside political differences, the Policing Board’s 19 members, including unionists and nationalists, were applauded for reaching agreement on the thorny issue of police badges and symbols.

Mr Constantine said: ‘‘It has demonstrated a sense of professionalism and strength of purpose in being able to craft skilful solutions to these issues.

Even though his report period didn’t take in its adjudication on the Omagh bomb investigation row, he added: ‘‘If the board is able to continue to operate in a professional manner, it will play a major role in engendering the important community support that is essential to the new policing service.’’

Along with the recruitment drive - which has borne fruit with the first PSNI recruits graduating last month - the commissioner commended the appointment of a human rights lawyer.

He also stressed the full co-operation of Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan as she investigates complaints against officers, and the PSNI’s work towards setting up a community policing strategy.

In previous reports, Mr Constantine had warned that it may take up to 10 years for the massive changes to policing in Northern Ireland to be fully carried out.

But his latest findings pointed to a more upbeat assessment.

‘‘It is our opinion that most of the more critical recommendations can be completed in a much shorter period of time,’’ he added.