Debate contribution: PSNI: Catholic Police Officers
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 24 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- PSNI: Catholic Police Officers
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4813883
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I will say a couple of things about that supplementary question. The Member said that it is not his responsibility, but it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that the PSNI is reflective of the community. Every Member who walks through the doors of the Chamber has a responsibility to ensure that their community has confidence in the PSNI, cooperates with the PSNI and creates an environment in which the PSNI is safe to do its job. I certainly will not wash my hands of that responsibility, and I hope that the SDLP is not going down the route of trying to do so. On the wider issue that he raised about prioritising confidence in the PSNI, I have done that because I respect the independence of the Chief Constable. There would be nothing more toxic to policing in Northern Ireland than for politicians to start dabbling in the operational decision-making of the PSNI. With respect, Mr McNulty, you have a colleague on the Policing Board. I suggest that you converse with him about how you can best build confidence in the PSNI in your community.
189 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.25 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.93).
- Subject area: Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.15 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.04 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.05 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.08 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.17 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.49 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.25 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.93 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.04 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.50 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.49 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:00 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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