Debate contribution: PSNI: Catholic Recruits
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 24 March 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- PSNI: Catholic Recruits
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4865015
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Absolutely. It was disappointing to see the response to the small number of adverts that showed racial diversity in the PSNI. The reaction to those was incredibly disappointing for those of us who wish to see a more inclusive, more representative Police Service. Let us be clear: an inclusive and representative Police Service will also be more effective and more able to connect with members of the public whom it serves and seeks to protect. It has also been a disgrace to see the many anti-PSNI posters that appeared during that campaign and threats to new officers in the community. Those are wider issues that we need to look at as a society. We do not see those things happening solely with regard to the police, but it is incredibly disappointing when they do.
134 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: 0.12 (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).
- The text criticises or condemns the framing or division (0.93).
- Subject area: Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers.
- 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 | 0.27 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.09 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.17 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.45 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.12 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing | 0.07 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it (chosen) | 0.93 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.49 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.30 |
| Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice) | 0.20 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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