Riots' Photo ID Successes 'Wrong'

Identifying young rioters by publishing pictures of them is 'wrong' according to a report published by a committee of the NI Policing Board.

Even though the police viewed the publication of photographs to identify rioters in north Belfast and young people suspected of involvement in crime in Londonderry as a great success, the watchdog body's statement said it should only be done if there is a serious risk to the public, or the young person.

However, other Board members are not so sure: "It is entirely appropriate that the police should appeal for help from members of the public in identifying those responsible for riotous criminality," said the DUP MLA Jonathan Bell.

He was commenting after the PSNI published photos to try and identify young people suspected of being involved in serious crime - a move that the Board's committee report described as "a retrograde step".

During 2010, in Belfast, 23 images were released following very serious rioting in Ardoyne last July with 16 of the individuals subsequently identified, arrested and charged.

In Londonderry, 133 images, including 50 of juveniles, have been released to the press - with 24 juveniles identified by members of the public.

However, the Policing Board has slammed the move and has published the latest in a series of Human Rights Thematic Reviews - this time it is the Children and Young People Review.

It looks specifically at how the PSNI meet their human rights obligations in some key areas relating to children and young people.

Speaking about the Review's findings, Chair of the Board's Human Rights and Professional Standards Committee Basil McCrea, said: "The experiences shared with the Committee show that children and young people can have very different experiences depending on where they happen to live. That is unacceptable and must be addressed.

"We sought to engage with children and young people on issues relating to the policing of anti-social behaviour, police practice regarding the dispersal of young people, public order and crowd control; and alternative disposals such as community restorative justice," he said.

"What is clear from this Review, however, is that the PSNI recognises - perhaps better than most - that effective policing requires innovative ideas and collaboration with local communities.

"We also welcome that the PSNI recognises that children and young people are central to any effective policing strategy," he said.

However, Mr McCrea insisted that publishing photographs could endanger those involved because of the possibility of attacks by paramilitaries, and breach their right to privacy.

The report said the PSNI should never release images of any person under the age of 18 into the public domain, except where the release is necessary for the purpose of protecting the general public or the young person from serious injury, and only after all reasonable methods have been tried and failed.

Acting Vice Chair of the Board Gearóid Ó hEara said: "Contrary to what many believe, children and young people are more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of it."

In counterpoint, Ulster Unionist MLA David McNarry - a party colleague of Basil McCrea - said the photo publication scheme has worked well and queried whether "political pressure" was behind the Policing Board's latest thinking.

"What we are getting dragged into here is a rights issue and when we do that we forget about victims," he said.

"It appears that someone has bowed to political pressure being applied, either directly or indirectly, that seems very clear to me. If that's the case then I have to say that it stinks."

The DUP MLA Jonathan Bell - who is a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board - has also now defended the police being able to use strong law and order measures.

Mr Bell was speaking out after the Policing Board's Human Rights Committee said that photographs of teenage rioters being published represented a contravention of the rioter's human rights.

"When someone takes a milk bottle, fills it with petrol, stuffs a rag in it, lights it up and then throws it at the police, they have committed a premeditated criminal act designed to kill or injure police officers serving the community.

"People throughout the community want to see those responsible for incidents such as those witnessed at Ardoyne last July brought before a court of law and prosecuted.

"It is entirely appropriate that the police should appeal for help from members of the public in identifying those responsible for riotous criminality.

"The rights of criminals have been prioritised over the rights of victims. It is high time the Policing Board started looking at these matters from the victim's perspective rather than through the eyes of criminals and those who deliberately flout the law.

"I disagree with the comments of the Human Rights Committee of the Policing Board and believe that the huge majority of law-abiding people throughout Northern Ireland feel the same," he said.

The Stormont Justice Committee member and DUP MLA Paul Given also commented and said the police's policy of picking up suspects afterwards, rather than actively intervening during the rioting, may have to be reviewed in light of the report's findings.

(BMcC/GK)