Debate contribution: Katie Simpson Review
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 5 May 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Ministerial Statement
- Heading
- Katie Simpson Review
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5524443
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for her diligence and commitment to pressing this issue, even, at times, when others would have been happier had she not done so. It has shown real commitment and courage on her part that she stood up for Katie and for those who loved her and to find the truth. I share the Member's concerns about the number of officers who have retired from the PSNI while under investigation and the impact that that has on confidence in policing. I am committed to ensuring that we work to close the gaps in the misconduct process and to ensure that officers who have committed wrongdoing do not walk away from policing with a clean slate. The Department is already progressing a number of legislative proposals in relation to police officer misconduct by way of an amendment to the police conduct regulatory framework. The Member will also be aware that I have committed to drafting clauses for inclusion in the Justice Bill that will create a barred and advisory list for policing in Northern Ireland as well as facilitate misconduct proceedings in relation to former officers. An amendment to the Justice Bill is to be tabled at Consideration Stage in order to facilitate the lists and former officer proceedings. I want to see a misconduct process that is as efficient as possible, and I am committed to working to take any potential steps that we can to improve those processes. In that respect, we are also working to make a number of improvements to wider misconduct procedures and to make legislative provision for matters where officers fail to meet vetting standards. That will result in two statutory rules relating to misconduct and vetting. The planned amendments to the Police (Conduct) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 will also reflect the recently revised code of ethics in statute as a schedule to the conduct regulations. The vetting regulations will be a bespoke set of regulations that will be introduced in order to deal with officers who fail to maintain vetting standards. All the proposed amendments will be subject to the relevant statutory scrutiny process. It is important to ensure the public's trust and confidence in policing and to challenge attitudes and behaviour where they fall short of those acceptable standards.
379 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: 0.04 (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 (0.91).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.91 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.07 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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