Statement

WEIR BATTLES FOR FULL TIME RESERVE IN ASSEMBLY DEBATE 

Posted on: June 29, 2009

“The proposal by the Chief Constable to scrap the remaining 500 members of the Full Time Reserve is both ill judged and ill timed. At a time when the dissident republican threat is greater than it has been for many years, it is shear madness to weaken our police defences on the frontline of policing. Even the Patten Report predicated the ending of the Full Time Reserve on the security situation and the removal of the terrorist threat, which is clearly not the case. This is true not simply for the border areas such as Fermanagh, but will impact on the whole of Northern Ireland, as police may need to be deployed for other parts of the Province, such as North Down, to cover the terrorist threats in the West and South. The Chief Constable may indicate that will fill any gap through release of officers on desk duty, but are there really many police to be found this way, and if there are why has this not been done several years ago.

The position is worsened by the fact that many of the Full Time Reserve who will be leaving are experienced officers, who cannot simply be replaced by new recruits, who carry little or no local knowledge. The Chief Constable cannot point to budgetary constraints as he didn’t even seek additional money from the Government. He may have the support from his senior team, but from the Superintendent’s Association and the Police Federation there are clear indications that this is the wrong move. These are the police at the coal face and they should be listened to.

The Full Time Reserve have made many sacrifices throughout the Troubles, and were targeted in disproportionate numbers. It is right that we stand by them, both for their own sake and the people of Northern Ireland. The Chief Constable can put this in place, but he will soon be on his way, and leave the rest of us to pick up the pieces. I welcome the support of the Assembly for my motion today, but for those who still oppose it, and hide behind the judgement of the Chief Constable, I pose ne question- If you are so confident that this is the correct decision from a Policing point of view, what is the problem with the adoption of our position that this decision should be suspended until the new Chief Constable is put in place.”