Introspection

Policing A New Dawn: Northern Ireland Six Years After Patten

As the twentieth century drew to a close, policing in Northern Ireland was synonymous with violence, brutality, religious warfare and the bitter discords of a people divided. Between 1966 and 1999, 3,636 people were killed and 36,000 injured as the conflict in Northern Ireland spilled beyond its shores and borders. The dawn of the twenty first century has seen a Northern Ireland attempting to reconcile and move forward, in the wake of the Good Friday peace agreement of April, 1998, and the Patten Commission on policing in 1998 and 1999. Six years on, just as the IRA announces a final decommissioning of weapons stockpiles, it is appropriate to look at the state of policing in Northern Ireland today, consider the implementation of the Patten Commission's recommendations and review, in broad terms, the accountability of the police in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Police Logo Source: Google /images

The Good Friday Agreement and the Patten Commission

The Good Friday Agreement was born out of decades of violence and sectarianism, as the minority Catholic population looked to a united Ireland, and the majority Protestants hoped for an ongoing relationship with the United Kingdom. The Agreement recognised that reform of the police, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, was of major importance as Northern Ireland moved forward. The Agreement notes that:

[We]… believe it essential that policing structures and arrangements are such that the police service is professional, effective and efficient, fair and impartial, free from partisan political control; accountable, both under the law for its actions and to the community it serves; representative of the society it polices, and operates within a coherent and cooperative criminal justice system, which conforms with human rights norms.

The Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, referred to as the Patten Commission, was born out of the Good Friday Agreement. It was charged with examining the operations of the police force, consulting widely, and coming up with a reform agenda that would give the people of Northern Ireland an accountable, democratic and representative police service.

The Patten Commission's recommendations and the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill

The Patten Commission released its report on Policing in Northern Ireland in September 1999. The Report, which included 175 recommendations, focused on human rights, accountability, community policing, public order policing and systemic reform. The Report stated that:

[i]n oral and written submissions to us, and in our informal discussions in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, the word that has occurred over and over again is accountability - police accountability to the law and to the community.

The key recommendations of the Report were:

• renaming the Royal Ulster Constabulary the Police Service of Northern Ireland;
• the creation of a new Policing Board to replace the Police Authority;
• the development of a Police Ombudsman and a Complaints Tribunal;
• discarding the symbols of the police that linked it with the British and its past;
• a recruitment strategy that picked from an equal pool of Catholics and Protestant candidates;
• drafting of a new oath and ethics code, with a strong emphasis on human rights; and
• a focus on community policing and engagement with the community.

The recommendations led to the drafting and passing of a Police (Northern Ireland) Bill in 2000.

Where are we now?

The Patten Commission also recommended the establishment of an independent Oversight Commissioner to monitor the implementation of its recommendations. The Oversight Commissioner has released a number of reports looking at the implementation of the Patten Commission's recommendations. Each report has considered the implementation of the Patten recommendations in light of a particular theme. The 13th Report, released in July 2005, noted that the majority of organisations, structures and systems required to instill a human rights ethos are in place and functioning as intended. The latest report, released in September 2005, looks at police accountability.

In his introduction, the Oversight Commissioner, Al Hutchinson, notes that the Oversight Commission has assessed that 114 of the 175 recommendations have been sufficiently completed to be deemed implemented, leaving 61 further recommendations to monitor. Police accountability is a key component of the police reform program - 80 of the 175 Patten recommendations relate to accountability.

The status of the implementation of the key recommendations of the Patten Commission follows.

New Police Service

Northern Ireland Police Officers Source: Google /images

The Royal Ulster Constabulary has become the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and has adopted new symbols to reflect this change, including a new uniform and badge. All members of the Policing Board unanimously agreed to the badge. A new oath has been drafted, and has been sworn by all officers recruited since 2001. Officers who were recruited prior to 2001 have formally acknowledged the new oath. A new Code of Ethics was introduced in February 2003, and came into effect on March 14, 2003. The Code of Ethics fully incorporates the provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights, and refers to a number of international agreements related to policing and human rights. Officers who fail to meet the standards outlined in the Code face disciplinary action. Recruitment has also been equally weighted between Protestant and Catholic groups, although the new police service's roots in the old Royal Ulster Constabulary means that there are still a majority of Protestant officers.

Accountability

The Police Authority was replaced with a Policing Board in November 2001, as recommended by the Patten Commission. The Policing Board is charged with the oversight of the police service on behalf of the community. A human rights monitoring framework has been put in place to assist the Policing Board to satisfy its responsibilities. The Chief Constable is held accountable to policy objectives and targets agreed between the Policing Board and the police service. The Parliamentary Northern Ireland Affairs Committee drafted a special report on the functioning of the Policing Board, and its conclusions were positive.

The Bill also established the Office of the Police Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent of both the Chief Constable and the Policing Board, and is accountable to Parliament (through the Secretary of State). The Ombudsman's powers have been increased since its establishment, and it is now able to conduct investigations as directed by the Secretary of State, and also to conduct investigations into current police practice or policy. Public confidence in the Ombudsman is high. A March 2005 survey of public opinion indicated that 86% of respondents had heard of the Ombudsman, and 78% of respondents believed that it dealt with complaints impartially.

In its latest report, the Oversight Commissioner notes that the Patten Commission recommended that the UK government's responsibilities for policing shift to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which is currently suspended from operation. As a result, the UK government continues to take certain responsibilities for the police.

Transparency

The police service published a Transparency Policy in April 2003, following extensive consultation with the Policing Board. The Policy covers publication guidelines, which refer to the recommendations of the Patten Commission. The police have also increased operational transparency, via a new communications strategy, an updated website and annual and other reports. The operation of the Policing Board, the Ombudsman, and District Police Partnerships have all contributed to the transparent operation of the police. The introduction of Freedom of Information legislation in January 2005 has also assisted the public to access information about the police.

There has been some criticism that the police service's approach to transparency has not been interactive enough. Critics have stated that the transparency policy is too heavily geared towards the publication of decisions, and not enough towards community consultation during the decision making process.

Community

District Policing Partnerships, an integral part of the plans for a more localised policing structure, were established in 2003. The Patten Commission's recommendation to augment the District Policing Partnerships' incomes through Council rates was not adopted.

Opposition response

Sinn Fein, one of Northern Ireland's major Republican political parties, has declined to sit on the Policing Board on the basis that reforms to the police have not yet satisfied the promise of the Patten Commission. Its critics charge it with failing to assist the reform process by refusing to engage with the reforming bodies.

Conclusion

In the few short years following the Patten Commission, admirable strides have been made in turning a sectarian, divisive police force, with the perception of blood on its hands, into a democratic, accountable police service with the respect of much of the community. Just as Northern Ireland still has a long journey ahead of it, the police service still faces challenges, and the prospect of further reform, as the remaining Patten Commission recommendations are implemented. Strong foundations have been laid for a solid police service. It is now in the hands of the various players in Northern Ireland to support these foundations, and the continued reform process, to deliver to the people of Northern Ireland a police, at their service.

Daniel Woods
Access to Justice Programme
CHRI