North’s new police chief vows to crack down on paramilitary godfathers
As he began work in Belfast, Hugh Orde outlined plans to oversee a major review of murder investigations in a bid to capture those who ordered and carried out the killings.
The former Metropolitan Deputy Assistant Commissioner accepted police inquiries into the assassinations have failed to yield satisfactory results, but pledged to jail the leaders one way or another. He said: "I intend to target those who are doing the most damage to the communities in Northern Ireland. Those are the major players.
"I believe in disruption. If I can't arrest someone for murder, but I can arrest them for some other substantial offence, I'll do it. It's how you take these people out."
Even though mainstream loyalist and republican organisations have supposedly been on ceasefire since 1994, the shootings have continued. With detectives unable to secure the evidence that will lead to prosecutions, the overwhelming majority of the murder cases have remained unsolved.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has come under intense pressure to seize those who are continuing to target and kill innocent victims.
Among the most high-profile murders was the drive-by shooting of Gerard Lawlor, 19, by the Ulster Defence Association in north Belfast in July.
Earlier this year, Catholic postman Daniel McColgan, 20, was gunned down by a UDA gang as he started work in a staunchly loyalist estate in Co Antrim. In July last year, 18-year-old Gavin Brett was murdered by the same organisation as he chatted with friends close to his home at Glengormley, Co Antrim. Dissident republicans have also been active, with the Real IRA behind the bomb attack on a Derry Territorial Army base which killed 51-year-old construction worker David Caldwell.
No one has ever been charged with any of these murders or a raft of others.
Pointing to the killings, Mr Orde accepted he was taking over the job at a time when terrorists pose a huge risk to security. "The reality is it is high if you look at the number of murders that have been committed over the last eight months as a starting point and the number of murder investigations we have got running at the minute which are not hugely successful," he admitted. Along with strong intelligence from people willing to tell police what they know, he stressed the need to get detectives on the scene faster.
"The first 48 to 72 hours is absolutely vital simply because that's when you get your evidence," he said.
"We need to review the way we investigate murder and we are going to do that. As he started one of the toughest policing jobs in Europe, Mr Orde also confirmed:
Special Branch is likely to undergo "substantial" change.
Full-time reserves should not be scrapped for several years
He plans to meet community leaders in a bid to end the sectarian violence engulfing parts of Belfast
The Castlereagh break-in was a disaster that could cause major damage to intelligence gathering.
Mr Orde was appointed to succeed Sir Ronnie Flanagan in the £130,000-a-year job in May after beating off the challenge from two top PSNI officers.
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