Orde to face policing board following critical comments

The Chief Constable of the PSNI will face the Policing Board today for the first time since claiming some of its members had started acting tribally.

Hugh Orde made the observations about some of the board’s political representatives at a public relations event in Dublin last month.

A PSNI spokeswoman later said his remarks had to be viewed in the context of a speech that had also been highly complementary of the board’s work since its inception.

Although the Chief Constable has spoken to board chairman Des Rea about his comments, the meeting at the board’s HQ in Belfast today is the first time he will meet the full board since the incident.

The matter is expected to be raised in private session before the public section of the meeting commences.

Orde will also face questions about the recent Police Ombudsman’s report that found that RUC officers failed to properly investigate the murder of a colleague gunned down by the IRA 20 years ago.

Constable John Larmour, 42, was shot dead in Belfast in October 1988 while helping out in his brother’s ice cream parlour.

His son Gavin claims some officers knew who the killer was but did not pass it on because he was an IRA informer.

Other issues set to be discussed are the recent sex attacks in Belfast, which saw young women raped in city parks, and this week’s violent clashes between nationalist and loyalist gangs in the east of the city.

The monthly meeting will also focus on police officer secondments, single officer patrolling, overtime payments and suspended officers.

Funding issues related to the planned PSNI training college in Cookstown will be put to the Chief Constable as well.