‘Particular gap’ on race related issues in PSNI, says officer

There has been a “particular gap around race related issues” in policing in Northern Ireland for a long time, a senior officer has said.

Andy George, who is also the President of the National Black Police Association in the UK, said he is concerned the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) Race and Ethnicity Action Plan still leaves a lot to be done.

The plan comes against the backdrop of a rise in the number of race hate crimes, including rioting in Ballymena in June.

The PSNI has also faced criticism for its inability to better reflect wider society in its composition, with about 50 of its 6,200 officers being from an ethnic minority background, according to its own data.

The action plan states that, nationally, it is accepted there is racism, discrimination and bias in policing.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boucher said the plan represents “our commitment to our ethnic minority communities, ensuring everyone in Northern Ireland feels safe, supported and respected”.

However, speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme on Friday, Mr George said that while he welcomed the launch of the plan, he said it has “taken us a while to get here”.

He said in 2022, the National Black Police Association surveyed just over 20 police officers from ethnic minority backgrounds in Northern Ireland, and that “every single one of them, 100% of those people had heard racism within the workplace”.

“Within the last two years, our members have said that their experiences have got worse,” he added.

Mr George said one of the main shortfalls of the plan is there is “no real statutory” drivers in Northern Ireland for the chief constable and others to be held accountable for ethnic minority communities.

“What gets measured, gets done,” he said.

Adding that he has seen a number of police forces across the UK launch “glossy brochures, race actions plans, developed with a lot more resourcing than what the PSNI have put forward, and they have failed to deliver”.

Mr George told BBC News NI about 4.5% of applicants in the last two PSNI recruitment campaigns were from an ethnic minority background, but said “they’re just not getting through the process”.

“That’s why it’s disappointing when you do read the plan and you see that it doesn’t actually commit to tackling that.”