Police full-time reserve will stay until 2005

The Policing Board ruled today that they would accede to the Chief Constable's request and maintain the PSNI full-time reserve.

The decision means that the 2,175 members of the full-time reserve will have their contracts extended until April 2005. It is expected that the reserve will then finally be phased out in October 2006, depending on the assessment of the security threat at the time.

Alliance assembly member Sean Neeson welcomed the news as the "only logical decision that could be taken".

Mr Neeson said: "The PSNI are clearly under strength at the moment because of ongoing street violence and continuing paramilitary activity. With the crime rate rising drastically, retention of the full time reserve was the only logical decision that could be made.

"This may not strictly be in line with the Patten proposals, but the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland need to see improvements in law and order. The retention of the reserve will boost confidence and reduce crime by having more officers serving in front-line duties where they are needed most."

The full-time reserve was scheduled to have been shelved through the Patten Report, but in his first submission to the board as Chief Constable, Hugh Orde asked for it to be retained.

He made his call four weeks ago after a summer of almost nightly violence along Belfast interfaces which had drained manpower resources away from 'ordinary' policing duties – such as crime detection.

The PSNI has seen huge numbers of experienced officers take up severance packages and leave the force. That drain on resources, taken in conjunction with the rise in absenteeism to 10%, leaves the current compliment of 7,296 officers drastically overstretched.

To redress the imbalance, Hugh Orde announced plans on September 18 to recruit up to 100 new detectives from throughout Britain to bolster the service.

Elsewhere, Sinn Fein's spokesman in policing Gerry Kelly has scotched rumours that the party is preparing to take up its seats on the Policing Board.

Mr Kelly today released the document it sent to Security Minister Jane Kennedy on September 30 detailing the party's objections to the new policing arrangements.

In the document, Sinn Fein claim that the Policing Board is insufficiently powerful to hold the Chief Constable to account or investigate collusion allegations. The party also states that the Ombudsman and the District Policing Boards are "incapable of holding the PSNI to account".

Mr Kelly listed the continued operation of the Special Branch and the use of plastic bullets as areas which must be addressed by the British government if Sinn Fein is step up to the policing board.

(GMcG)