PSNI Chief Constable has “frank conversations” with loyalist groups over 'two tier policing'

Google Street View of the Spectrum Centre on the Shankill
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


Senior PSNI officers have had “frank conversations” at a meeting tonight over accusations from unionist and loyalist groups of two-tier policing.

Chief Constable John Boutcher and Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton were among police top brass at the meeting in the Spectrum Centre on the Shankill Road.

The event was part of public engagement efforts involving the PSNI and community rep’s that have been ongoing for a number of years. The ‘REaL’ events have also been organised with people from ethnic groups, the LGBTQ+ community and ‘CNR’ or Catholic, Nationalist and Republican community as well as young people and the disability sectors.

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The media were not invited to the event this evening, however it is understood there have been some “robust” meetings in the run-up to tonight’s meeting. It is also understood that while the event was held at a venue on the Shankill, people from community groups as well as some Loyal Orders from across Northern Ireland were in attendance to hear the Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable address their concerns.

In a statement issued this evening, the PSNI said that at the “latest in a series of Reference, Engagement and Listening (REaL) events” officers and staff including Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton “met stakeholders from across the Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist (PUL) community”.

Speaking about the event Area Superintendent Ali Hagan said: “In line with our ‘Here for You’ Public Engagement Vision we have, over the last three years, engaged with groups from across the Unionist spectrum to build relationships and improve confidence.

“Tonight’s REaL event allowed us to update the community on work that has been ongoing since the previous REaL event, held last February. This update included frank conversations about what some in the PUL community believe to be, and told us they have experienced as, ‘two tier’ policing. We also sought community input on our 2025 Police Officer recruitment campaign.

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“Engagement such as this is key to Policing and allows us to better understand how best to address the needs and concerns of the PUL community. I want to thank everyone who took the time to engage with us.”

In a statement issued by the organisers of the event, the Greater Shankill & Ballysillan Policing Focus group, they said that for the past three and a half years “community and political representatives from the Greater Shankill & Ballysillan area have engaged in a process with the PSNI aimed at rebuilding trust and confidence in both local policing and with senior management of the PSNI”.

The statement added: “Past decisions of the PSNI had led to accusations of two-tier policing. All party’s engaged in full and frank discussions and agreed on several positive outcomes. Another step in that process was tonight’s REaL event held in the Spectrum Centre

on the Shankill Road and hopefully the discussions there will create a platform for moving forward in developing positive relationships between the PSNI and our community.”