Chief Inspector Mark McEwan Police Service of Northern Ireland

B District (South and East Belfast)

Overview of Public Disorder – June 2011

• On Monday 20 June 2011, after 9.00pm some of the worst sectarian rioting in almost a decade broke out at the Short Strand Interface.

• Around 500 persons gathered in the area.

• Residents reported their homes were being attacked by paint, stones, smoke bombs, fireworks and petrol bombs.

• Shots were fired and blast bombs thrown.

• Two males were taken to hospital with gunshot injuries to their legs.

• A police officer was taken to hospital with an eye injury.

Overview of Public Disorder – June 2011

• There were further violent disturbances on Tuesday 21 June 2011 and again on Friday 01 July 2011.

• A press photographer was shot in the leg at 11.50pm during the second night of rioting.

• Water cannon was deployed and 140 AEP rounds were fired.

• Risk of huge damage to relationships between communities and PSNI.

• The UVF was blamed for orchestrating the rioting. This is the first time PSNI publicly named a specific group for orchestrating public disorder.

Media Spotlight

Media Spotlight

PSNI Statistics Linked to Disorder

During the week of June 20 - June 26 2011:

• 1,278 officers spent 15,627 hours policing the riots and disorder in East

Belfast.

• The estimate of the overall cost to the PSNI of policing these riots between

these dates was £336,231.

(The costs include duty time, overtime and other directly associated costs.)

• There was a clear need to find a multi-agency resolution.

Myhill Levels of Engagement

Personal

PartnershipProtective

Policing

with

the

Community

Professional

Engagement

Service

Delivery

Treat People

Fairly And

With Respect

Deliver a

High Quality

Service

Tackling Crime

and Protecting

the Public

Provide

Information To

the Community

Effective Joint

Problem Solving

Targeted

Patrolling/

Activities

Effective

Community

Engagement

Our Policing Commitments

User Satisfaction Surveys

Confidence Measures

Complaint Trends

Levels of Crime & Disorder

Individual Performance Review

STRATEGY STYLE THEMES ACTIVITIES ACCOUNTABILITY

Delivering Policing with the Community through Personal, Professional, Protective Policing

Policing with the Community Strategy

Community Engagement

• Increased police visibility – initially altering shift patterns to reflect demand.

• Longer term increased number of officers in local Neighbourhood Policing

Teams.

• With partner agencies, DOJ, Housing Executive, Housing Associations

addressed physical structures.

• CCTV, peace line, fire proof roofing, grills on windows, protective measures

in gardens – not everyone welcomed these measures.

Ongoing Community Engagement

• A door to door survey, delivered by NPT officers, to establish policing

priorities according to the wider community (Oct – Dec 2011).

• 340 responses.

• Independently analysed by the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

• Priorities were; antisocial behaviour, burglary, drugs, police visibility.

Ongoing Community Engagement

• Utilised platform for collaborative working to address priority issues.

• £35,000 investment into Alternatives NI Street by Street Project. Now

moving into Ballymacarrett area.

• £15,000 investment in Ballymacarrett Youth Centre.

• £25,000 investment into Doyle Youth Centre.

• Establishment of PACT – Partners and Community Together.

• Establishment of Pottinger Neighbourhood Facebook page

Safe Choices

• 180 Primary 7 pupils from five pathfinder schools attended a Safe Choices event, on Tuesday 29th and 30th May 2012.

• Event highlighted the impact of drugs and alcohol on individuals, families and the wider community.

• Delivered by a multi-agency partnership.

Pottinger Neighbourhood Police Team East Belfast Community Development Agency

FASA

Street by Street.

The Way Forward

• The development of a structured process for information sharing between

agencies.

• The establishment of analytical and tasking processes to identify priority

families and individuals for intervention.

• Based on Inverclyde/Glasgow Community Safety Services.

Thank-you