Officers 'must disclose interests'

Police officers are to be required to disclose involvement with secret or cultural organisations such as the Freemasons, Catholic Knights of Columbus or Protestant Orange Order.

The measures announced on Tuesday were part of changes recommended by the Police Reform Commission, headed by former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten.

Officers will have to notify Chief Constable Hugh Orde about membership of loyalist marching organisations such as the Orange Order, the Apprentice Boys of Derry, Independent Orange Order and the Royal Black Institution.

The nationalist Ancient Order of Hibernians and Catholic Knights of Columbus are included as well as the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland.

The rule will also affect police officers who are members of organisations whose "views on race, ethnicity or national identity may be perceived to be in conflict with Section 32 of the Police (NI) Act 2000 and Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998".

Officers will also have to declare if they are a member of a group which they believe could call their impartiality into question.

Sam Kinkaid said the legislation was fair

Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid said they had tried to make the legislation as fair as possible.

"We have consulted very widely in how we are going to implement this and even people who accept that they don't perhaps support this policy appreciate that it is a legal requirement," he said.

"They have noticed the extent to which we have tried to provide safeguards for officers in how this information will be held and disclosed.

"The present state of community divisions in Northern Ireland means that membership of some organisations can be perceived in certain communities as affecting the ability of officers to discharge their duties effectively and impartially.

"I want to make it clear this is not a comment on the legitimacy or propriety of any of these organisations, rather it is about reasonable perceptions held by certain parts of the community."

SDLP Policing Board member Alex Attwood said the creation of the register was a "useful and significant development".

'Impartial force'

However, Ulster Unionist Party honorary secretary Arlene Foster criticised the policy.

"Under this new measure, a police officer might as well declare which church he or she goes to on a Sunday, because they have to declare whether they are a member of the Orange Order or a Catholic organisation," she said.

Sinn Fein MP Michelle Gildernew welcomed the move and said her party had made progress on this issue in recent talks with the British and Irish Governments.

But Police Federation Chairman Irwin Montgomery said he feared the policy could be abused.

"We are concerned about the security of it - who would have access to it?" he said.

Mr Patten made 175 recommendations in his report on police reform, including a new badge, oath of allegiance, uniform and a positive recruitment policy towards Catholics.

Publishing the report, he said that a key objective was to "depoliticise" policing.