NI police changes criticised

Plans to reduce the number of District Command Units in Northern Ireland‘s police service may fail to deliver improved policing on the ground, it was claimed today.

Ulster Unionist Assembly member Michael Copeland was responding to signals from the Police Service of Northern Ireland that it was looking to cut the number of DCUs from 29 to 12 or 15 to free up resources.

In its submission to the review of public administration, the PSNI said its senior command team felt the current number was “excessive”.

DCUs are responsible for delivering community policing and are organised along local government lines. Four are in Belfast and the remainder outside the city.

The PSNI told the review while its figures showed the service making good progress in making Northern Ireland a safer place, those involved in frontline policing were “only too aware of the pressure on resources.

“The Patten Report (on police reform) states … there are issues in terms of resource management in matching the police districts to the current council areas.

“The senior command team has considered the current structures in order to determine whether they allow the police service to provide an effective and efficient service. It is the view that 29 DCUs is excessive.

“In order for this number of DCUs to function properly it entails substantial resources including 29 DCU commanders with the requisite support and back-up.

“The senior command team has considered the models in place in Britain and it is its view that in order to reasonably discharge their duties between 12 and 15 DCUs are required.”

However Mr Copeland, who chairs the Castlereagh District Policing Partnership, said scaling down the numbers of DCUs would pose problems.

“In Castlereagh the District Command Unit borders the East Belfast DCU and I am now told that for operational reasons they will be combined,” he said.

“But that then leaves us in limbo because the East Belfast DCU is under a sub group of the Belfast District Policing Partnership and Castlereagh has its own DPP. That could lead to difficulties establishing the roles of the bodies concerned.”

Mr Copeland said the perception that policing on the ground was failing needed to be addressed.

He criticised plans to lose 16 regular officers in Castlereagh and dispense with 1,600 full-time reserve officers.

“There is a very real danger that the situation on the ground will see even fewer patrols and slower response times to crime,” he said.

“The lack of public confidence in policing does need to be seriously addressed.

“The situation is a difficult one but doing away with DCU command structures won’t release constables to tackle so-called normal community crime.

“These structures mostly involve superintendents, chief inspectors, inspectors and sergeants and I cannot see that this ‘brigading’ will release additional resources to the coalface.”