Support for ombudsman 'rising'

Support for ombudsman 'rising'

Nuala O'Loan said the figures reflected her experience of the office

Support for the Office of the Police Ombudsman has increased significantly among Northern Ireland's Protestant community, according to a survey.

The initial results of the independent survey, which was conducted during February and March by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, were released on Friday.

The figures suggest 70% of Protestants were confident the office would deal with complaints from all sections of the community in an impartial way - an increase of 19% compared to a survey carried out at the same time last year.

A slight increase in support from Catholic people was registered although the survey also indicated some areas in which Catholic confidence in the Ombudsman's office had fallen slightly.

Overall, the survey suggests that general public knowledge and confidence in the organisation is very high.

Reacting to the figures, Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan said they reflected her experience of her office.

KEY FINDINGS

86% recognise the ombudsman is independent of the police

79% thought they would be treated fairly by the office

78% believe the office helps ensure the police do a good job

74% were confident the office deals with complaints impartially

64% believed the office treats police officers and complainants equally

"I am aware that we get complaints from both sides of the community in equal measure," said Mrs O'Loan.

"Nevertheless, I am glad to see that there also seems to be a growing acceptance throughout Northern Ireland that my office is both independent and impartial," she said.

The biggest shift in opinion was among the Protestant community, with 81% of people saying they felt they would be treated fairly should they ever make a complaint to the office - an increase of 6%.

The level of confidence that the office helped ensure the police did a good job was also up as was the belief that the ombudsman treated a police officer and the person making a complaint equally.

Meanwhile, the figures suggest that support for the Office has remained consistently high amongst the Catholic community, although some figures are slightly down on last year.

'Manipulation'

Nationalists said the survey was a vindication of the Ombudsman's efforts.

South Down SDLP MP Eddie McGrady said: "This illustrates the unique openness and transparency with which she and her staff deal with matters of the greatest sensitivity.

However, Democratic Unionist Ian Paisley Jnr, who sits on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, rejected its findings.

"Polls like this are completely unreliable and designed to get the answers the pollster wants to get.

"No manipulation will convince me that the Protestant public or the police believe the Ombudsman is impartial and does a fair job."

More than 1,200 people were questioned in the survey, which was conducted between 3 February and 7 March 2003.