Member's statement: PSNI: Protestant Representation

Member's statement by Mr Phillip Brett on 20 January 2026.

MLA: Mr Phillip Brett
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 20 January 2026
Type: Member's statement
Business: Members' Statements
Heading: PSNI: Protestant Representation
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5348194

Text

Policing in Northern Ireland works best when it serves the entirety of our community. Much of the public and political focus on that issue has been on the under-representation of certain sections of our community. That focus is important, but another issue receives far less attention in our media and is a growing concern for me: the under-representation of working-class Protestants in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. It is not an abstract or academic point. In many working-class areas that once saw policing as a proud and respected tradition, confidence in that institution has begun to fall. When any section of our community disengages with our police, it is bad for our society as a whole. A police service that reflects not the whole of our community but only parts of it does a disservice to the entirety of Northern Ireland. That principle, which some in the Chamber and in the media speak about, must be applied equally. It means recognising where engagement has fallen and where focus is needed. That is why the current recruitment drive matters. It is more than a campaign; it is an opportunity to reset the message that we want to see working-class Protestant communities apply to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland. If we want a police service that understands our communities, we need a police service that comes from our communities. Representation will strengthen local knowledge and improve communication. I thank community organisations and partners in north and west Belfast who have engaged with the Police Service to try to ensure that that obstacle is overcome. I pay tribute to our Policing Board members and, in particular, Joanne Bunting, who has raised that important issue for many years. I send a clear message from these Benches in the Chamber: we want members of our community and the working-class Protestant community to apply to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I look forward to other political leaders in the Chamber calling on their community to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

341 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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: 0.28 (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).
Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.70).
No identity-based framing was identified (0.75).
Subject area: Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations.
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

Probability that each statement is true of this text (0 = no, 1 = yes). A criterion counts as met at 0.60 or above.
Question	Probability	Met?
Identity framing	0.45	No
Sectarian or communal antagonism	0.02	No
Cultural grievance politics	0.07	No
Dog-whistle messaging	0.04	No
Controversy escalation	0.13	No
Legitimate policy scrutiny	0.70	Yes
Overall judgement	0.28	At or below not-flagging threshold

Context and attribution (stance)
Option	Probability
No identity-based framing (chosen)	0.75
Reports or questions it	0.01
Criticises or condemns it	0.00
Adopts it	0.24

Subject area (top five)
Subject	Probability
Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations	0.61
Religion and belief (including people of no religion), churches, faith communities and religious prejudice (including antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice)	0.35
Another identity-related subject	0.04
No identity-related subject	0.00
Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials	0.00

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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