Office workers for frontline as violence soars

POLICE chiefs in the North are trying to free up office-bound officers to fight rising crime after a report revealed the number of bombings and shootings have soared.

Joe Stewart, the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) senior director of human resources, described the campaign to recruit 1,000 civilians to take up office jobs as a vital step forward under the blueprint for reforming the force.

“It’s an integral part of the organisation’s programme of change, as recommended in the Patten report on policing,” he said.