Orde says PSNI now 'a different organisation'

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is a very different force to the one described in the Stevens report, Chief Constable Hugh Orde claimed today.

Commenting on the report, Mr Orde said he was determined to make sure there was no collusion between officers in his force and loyalist paramilitaries.

Mr Orde was joined by the report’s author John Stevens as he briefed the cross-community Policing Board on its content today.

Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, found shocking levels of collusion between officers in the old Royal Ulster Constabulary special branch and loyalist paramilitaries in killing Catholics in Northern Ireland in the late 1980s.

However, Mr Orde said things had changed since then.

“The new Police Service of Northern Ireland is a very different organisation,” he said.

“The officers now carrying out their work day in, day out, protecting the communities of Northern Ireland, operate a very different system to very different legal requirements than that that took place in 1989.”

Mr Orde said most of the officers who were involved in the service in the late 80s had now retired.

“The world has moved on, it’s 14 years, so many, many, the vast majority of officers involved in that specific investigation would have retired,” he said.

Mr Orde said there was stricter control about how information from informers was handled nowadays.

“As long as I’m the chief constable, I’m determined to make sure there is no collusion,” he added.

The chief constable said he believed the Stevens team had uncovered a large amount of evidence about collusion for the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider.

“I believe there is a substantial case for the director to consider or the commissioner would not have sent those papers to the DPP.”