Tom Elliott never anticipated that politics would give him an easy ride and it’s with similar expectations that he takes on the role of Chairman of the local District Policing Partnership (DPP).

It looks as if he is not going to be disappointed. Part of the role of the Fermanagh DPP is to create an interface between the public and the police.

Potentially that’s not a very relaxing position to be in. “When you enter politics at all it is not a very comfortable place to be. Certainly in between policing and the public, it can get worse.

“That is the challenge we have to rise to and try to meet,” said Mr. Elliott.

The first DPP public meeting in Fermanagh – the first in Northern Ireland, in fact – will be held at the beginning of next month, allowing members of the public to bring their questions about policing direct to the District Commander.

Questions for this hitherto unpublicised meeting have already been tabled with the DPP manager based at Enniskillen’s Townhall. So will it be a baptism of fire? Mr. Elliott is hopeful that it won’t be.

“I would hope the public are generally interested in real policing affairs. There is no use in just coming there to create disturbance.

“The whole point of the public meetings is to take on the general public’s views and concerns. I do not see why there should be any real disturbance,” he said.

Mr. Elliott, a councillor from Ballinamallard, is one of ten elected representatives along with nine independent members who are taking places on the DPP.

Local Sinn Fein councillors are refusing to take a place on the grouping and remain vehemently against the body, urging similar sentiment among their supporters.

The partnership is not part of the PSNI. Its role is multi-faceted: it is to establish policing priorities; to monitor the performance of the police and provide a forum to encourage co-operation between the public and the police in the prevention and solving of crime.

 

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