BUDGET cuts must not be allowed to undermine the good work being carried out by the police across the borough of Ards and North Down.
Politicians have expressed concern that a multimillion pound black hole in the PSNI budget could have implications for the resources available for policing in Ards and North Down. After a meeting with local police chief, Superintendent Johnston McDowell, Strangford MP, Jim Shannon, has urged the PSNI to ensure the local district command has enough staff to ‘continue the good work that is beginning to show fruit’. Mr Shannon met Mr McDowell on Monday accompanied by DUP councillors Naomi Armstrong-Cotter and Trevor Cummings.
The MP said he impressed upon the superintendent ‘in the strongest of terms’ the need for community police to continue doing the essential work that is being done. “By my reckoning in the last year alone, our local district police have removed over £500,000 worth of drugs and counterfeits from our streets,” said Mr Shannon. “This could not be achieved without the highly trained staff, building relationships in the community and gathering information which leads to massively successful operations,” he added. “There is no doubt in my mind that those who are criminally engaging in this area are feeling the pressure of an active and visual policing force and this momentum must continue. The work carried out by local policing must not be undervalued and we must remember that drugs off the streets and dealers behind bars is essential work which must be funded to continue.”
Mr Shannon also raised the issue of domestic violence against women and girls and said he was assured that this remains a priority at local level. Alderman Armstrong-Cotter said community policing is all about knowing local police officers and trusting them with information and the integrity of the PSNI. “I have watched trust build within communities and my concern is that when officers are not available to respond or attend meetings that this trust once again dissolves,” she said. “Recent reports have found an increased confidence and trust in policing and this is worth dedicated sustained funding.” Mr Cummings said as a strong advocate of neighbourhood policing, the projected loss of officers remains a real cause for concern. “The role of neighbourhood officers has had a positive impact across the borough, and there is disquiet that additional pressures on resources together with changing shift patterns, could result in a further reduction in neighbourhood personnel,” he said. “It is vital that we understand the impact on the local district, and it is important to emphasise, in clear and certain terms, the value placed in neighbourhood policing. “It’s a model that instils a level of confidence realised through relationships, and a reduction in crime through effective community partnerships, and steps should be taken to mitigate against diminishing its role.”
Superintendent McDowell told the delegation that the police in the district have six new officers in place and yet whilst the district had not been left unaffected by the cuts, the team is restructuring he is confident that they have the staff to continue the focused approach to community policing, to criminal investigation and to organised crime.
