Police chief criticises board

The 19-member board has come in for criticism

The President of the Superintendents' Association has criticised the Policing Board over its treatment of former chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Chief Superintendent Bill Lowry said some board members had made disgraceful comments about Sir Ronnie.

In his speech at the association's annual meeting on Wednesday, he also called on the secretary of state to publicly declare that the full-time police reserve would be retained.

Sir Ronnie has become one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary since retiring from his post in March.

Bill Lowry: Criticism

The police service changed from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland last November.

The changes followed a report from Chris Patten's policing commission, which made more than 175 recommendations, after being set up under the Good Friday Agreement.

Constitutional position

The first recruits to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland graduated last month.

Mr Lowry told his association the government must "not bargain away the constitutional position of the police in Northern Ireland" in an effort to win support for reforms from Sinn Fein.

"In attempting to convince those who still remain to be convinced, we would say to government that such persuasion should not be at the expense of prostituting the constitutional position of the police or the democratic and ethical values of society," he said.

The absence of effective and well-supported policing is not some happy, idyllic, human condition

John Reid
Secretary of state

Mr Lowry said it was the association's perception that those who remained outside the policing process hoped the government would ultimately surrender control as the price for inclusion".

He said police morale had been damaged by the "disgraceful" comments from some board members about Sir Ronnie

"If the board sets its face as one of a stern parent then such a board must also take the responsibility for the atmosphere that will inevitably accompany such a posture."

The manner in which Sir Ronnie was treated had not gone unnoticed within the service, he said.

Mr Lowry said given this, the relationship between the association and the board "looks bleak".

Human condition

In his speech, he also criticised Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan after her report into the police investigation into the Omagh bombing.

"We feel let down not only by the ombudsman but also by government who failed to provide sufficiently robust mechanisms within the legislation to prevent this most damaging situation either arising in the first instance or being so incapable of immediate remedy."

Mr Lowry said without the full-time reserve the police could not have responded to the violence in north Belfast in the past year.

Secretary of State John Reid told delegates the new police service deserved the support of everyone in Northern Ireland.

"The absence of effective and well-supported policing is not some happy, idyllic, human condition," said Dr Reid.

"It is a vicious anarchy in which racketeering and extortion thrive, and where kangaroo courts and arbitrary violence substitute for any semblance of just process and people's fundamental human rights are trampled under foot."