Orde pledge on police reserve

Patten recommended equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants

Phasing out the full-time reserve police in Northern Ireland will be subject to a further security review, the chief constable has insisted.

Hugh Orde said the service would not be left short staffed by plans to end the contracts of 1,600 officers by April next year.

The abolition of the full-time reserve was a recommendation of the Patten Report on police reform in Northern Ireland.

The Policing Board said the subsequent 18 month timescale for phasing out reservists' jobs was achievable.

However, the Police Federation - the officer's union - described the plan as "madness" and said it would leave the PSNI dangerously under-resourced.

The plan was approved by the chief constable However, Mr Orde said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) currently could not afford to do with 1,600 officers less than it has now.

The decision to get rid of the full-time reserve was not a decision by a chief officer - it was a recommendation which was accepted by government Hugh Orde Chief constable

"That is why we are looking at this over a sensible time period," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme on Friday.

"This gives me time and my senior officers time to manage our resources, to make sure we have as many police officers as we can at the front end of policing and not sitting in offices.

"It is a planned and phased response to a Patten recommendation which is unequivocal.

"The decision to get rid of the full-time reserve was not a decision by a chief officer - it was a recommendation which was accepted by government."

Mr Orde said the ending of contracts by April 2005 was subject to a review - when he would return to the Police Board to confirm whether the plan was "rational and reasonable".

"My job is to deliver efficient and effective policing. So what we are doing in the time we have is looking at all our resources.

Getting officers on the streets to help make communities safer, is the ultimate goal of the strategy and since October 2002 progress in moving officers to front line policing duties is ongoing Professor Desmond Rea Policing Board chairman

"We are increasing our civilianisation. We have civilian colleagues in positions where there used to be police officers, and this allows them to go back out onto the frontline of policing.

"We are restructuring, we are reducing and we are reducing our bureaucracy to make sure as many police officers as we possibly can are at the front end of policing."

He added: "If by April 2005 I am not satisfied that in the current prevailing security situation at that time and I still need additional officers, then I will go back to the board."

Policing Board chairman Professor Desmond Rea said the body was committed to ensuring a policing service which met the needs of the community.

'Full implementation'

"Getting officers on the streets to help make communities safer, is the ultimate goal of the strategy and since October 2002 progress in moving officers to front line policing duties is ongoing," he said.

"The chief constable and the board are satisfied that there are sufficient resources available to PSNI to meet the policing need and that full implementation of the Human Resources Strategy will ensure that officers are in the right place at the right time delivering a policing service which meets the needs of the community."

It is obvious - because I have spoken to a number of those district commanders over this past few weeks - that they would be unable to operate Irwin Montgomery Police Federation

However, chairman of the Police Federation, Irwin Montgomery, said it would have a major impact.

"About 50% of them make up the frontline police in many of our district command units throughout the country," he said.

"It is obvious - because I have spoken to a number of those district commanders over this past few weeks - that they would be unable to operate.

"They would not be able to provide any sort of community policing at all."

The Patten Report on police reform in Northern Ireland planned a "peace-time" service of 7,500 regular officers and 2,500 part-timers.

Some 7,000 regulars and 950 part-timers are currently serving.

The Patten Report recommended equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants for the new PSNI which replaced the old RUC.

The review of policing in Northern Ireland by former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten was one of the key elements of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.