Debate contribution: Neighbourhood Policing
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 28 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Neighbourhood Policing
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5762085
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I will answer it openly and honestly. Yes, that would have an impact on policing. When such things occur, and there is the potential for disorder on the streets or conflict, the police are put in the invidious position of having to hold the thin green line between violence and peace. Their first priority is always to protect life. The fact that we have fewer police than we would wish to have necessarily means that they are abstracted from other duties. Those duties may be delivering neighbourhood policing, investigating domestic abuse or dealing with the consequences of child sexual abuse and other matters. Police would therefore be drawn away from a lot of other duties in order to police situations in which there was the potential for unrest. It is a matter for the Chief Constable to decide on, but I am aware that, in line with the business case, which was approved by the Executive and for which we are now desperately seeking to get funding, given that we are not in a good position with the Budget, he has also done work internally. Unfortunately, neighbourhood policing and the organisation as a whole became out of shape because of retirements in different parts of the organisation. The Chief Constable has worked very diligently to try to address that issue in order to ensure that we can better protect our neighbourhood officers and give them a more stable career path in neighbourhood policing, while recognising the fact that, unfortunately, any kind of disruption, public disturbance or risk to life will always be the PSNI's first port of call.
268 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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