Published: Thursday, 21st January, 2010 9:00am

Fermanagh to get half of police graduates

Comments (2) | Print | Email

At the first meeting of the Policing Board to be held in Fermanagh are (from left) Superintendent Alywin Barton, Community Safety; Mr. Barry Gilligan, Chairman of the Policing Board; Chief Constable Matt Baggott; Mr. Robert Irvine, Chairman of Fermanagh District Council and Superintendent Michael Skuce, District Commander.

Chief Constable Matt Baggott has said the dissident republican threat remains "very real and severe" in Fermanagh and appealed to the community to "please help us" in the fight against dissident republican activity.

The PSNI chief made the comments after the first Northern Ireland Policing Board public meeting was held in Fermanagh on Tuesday night.

"We have hundreds of people gathering intelligence on these people and we are using our best efforts and resources to make sure they are brought to justice. We are not letting the situation build up to the same level as before, but ultimately we need the co-operation of the public to help us build on that," he said.

This coincided with his main theme of the evening of "personal policing" which he presented to the 200-strong audience at the Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen.

"We have a real problem here and a few people are led to believe that I'm the head of a war machine. The officers I lead are on responding to calls tonight, they're at road traffic accidents saving lives and giving mouth-to-mouth to people in need without a second thought for who that person is and for anyone to interpret this as a war machine is utterly barking. I've made the commitment to this force and I will stand up now and say enough is enough. I don't want to have to cradle another colleague's wife in my arms with the emotion of the community behind her," he said.

After apologising on "getting too emotional", Constable Baggott asked the public to "please help us, please challenge us and please work alongside us" in bringing dissident republicans to justice.

In relation to PSNI officers, he admitted that out of all the places in the world he has served in, he has never been more "inspired" by the sheer "courage" of his colleagues who "are doing absolutely the right thing on working towards a better future for Northern Ireland."

He said he was "taken aback" by the "desire" of young police graduates who he said almost half of which will be coming to Fermanagh in the next six months.

He admitted that the police service needs to "radically change" and doing so, he is prepared to listen and to be held to account by the Policing Board when it is required.

He also discussed plans of how the community can work together in the fight against crime and said the PSNI will continue to crackdown on the mis-use of alcohol among teenagers that can lead to anti-social behaviour and other crime.

Constable Baggott admitted that the next six months were going to bring challenges, particularly in regards to finance, but reassured the public that back room staff are being put on patrol and that there are sufficient resources to carry out effective community policing in Fermanagh and the rest of Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein Councillor Stephen Huggett made reference to a constituent who, after constant calls to the police about an incident, still received no help and the situation was handled "extremely badly". He said a lot of people in the community still feel there are officers of the PSNI who work under "the old RUC mindset" and asked the Constable to give him reassurance that he will be "ruthless" in dealing with officers he believes still work with this mindset,

Chief Constable Baggott gave his reassurance and said his colleagues share the "absolute desire" to be accountable to the public and will work consistently with the Policing Board and the Police Ombudsman in getting their service right.

In response, UUP Councillor Alec Baird added, "My DPP colleague Stephen Huggett has made some strong allegations against officers of the RUC in an effort to blacken their name, so I presume you've got evidence and surely as a member of the DPP and a good upright citizen it's in incumbent on you to present that to the DPP or to the Police Ombudsman so I think it's a matter for you to either put up or shut up."