Policing in Northern Ireland : delivering the new beginning / Desmond Rea and Robin Masefield

SIP1922

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. Policing in its Historical and Political Context -- 2. A New Beginning to Policing in Northern Ireland -- The Report of the Independent Commission On Policing for Northern Ireland -- 3. From Publication of the Independent Commission's Report to the Establishment of the Northern Ireland Policing Board -- 4. The Members of the Policing Board -- 5. Accountability -- In Theory and Practice -- 6. The Policing Board's Modus Operandi -- 7. Police Emblem and Flag -- 8. Policing at District Level/Policing with the Community -- 9. The Prinicple of Consent and Affirmative Action -- 10. Human Rights -- 11. Civil Unrest and Public Order Policing: Part One: Civil Unrest and Parades -- Part Two: Policing Public Disorder and Individual Situations of Violence -- 12. Personality Matters -- 13. Police Performance -- 14. The PSNI Estate Strategy, Including the Police College -- 15. Individual Incidents and Cases that Impacted on the Policing Board -- 16. Organised Crime and the Independent Monitoring Commission -- 17. The Police Oversight Commissioner -- 18. The American and International Dimensions -- 19. The irish Dimension -- 20. Dealing with the Past -- An Intractable Problem? -- 21. Some Conclusions -- Index.

The Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, headed by Lord Patten, concluded in its 1999 report 'A new beginning for democratic accountability is key to a new beginning for policing and to involving the community as a whole in the delivery of policing. We recommend that an entirely new Policing Board be created ... ' This book is about the delivery of that 'new beginning for policing' in Northern Ireland, achieved at a time when most commentators considered the Policing Board was itself likely to fragment along traditional community lines. The story of the Policing Board, from its establishment in 2001, through to the reconstitution of the membership in 2009, is in many ways an inspirational one, showing what can be done by politicians and community representatives working together to bring about a fundamentally different way of policing that better meets the needs of the whole community. It offers valuable lessons and contemporary insights for law enforcement officers, accountability 'bodies' and academics world-wide in key areas, including the need for a police service's composition to reflect the community that it serves; promoting public confidence in policing and policing within the community; upholding human rights in the context of policing civil unrest and terrorism; holding a police service to account while also providing the support it requires; and dealing with the legacy of inter-communal violence with over 3,500 deaths. Drawing largely on publicly available material, it is an account by two individuals uniquely well placed to produce an authoritative record: Professor Sir Desmond Rea, the Policing Board's Chairman for its first seven and a half years, and Robin Masefield, the senior civil servant who headed the British Government's team implementing the recommendations of the Independent Commission. -- Publisher's description.