A tale of two top cops

The Garda Síochána and the PSNI  – the police South and North  – are united. Not literally, of course, but in discontent over the way their organisation is working. To say both are in an unsettled state would be an understatement.

Let’s take the Garda Siochana first. The Garda Representative Association (GRA) have just held a ballot and have voted 99% (I kid you not, Virginia) against their Commissioner. We were told that the negative view of Harris related to his changing of the on -duty pattern for the gardaí, but Ronan Slevin, the GRA general secretary says  :It is a loud and clear message that we as an association have lost confidence in the direction of where policing is being led in this country.”  When Commissioner Drew Harris was asked for his reaction, he said “I’m hugely disappointed, it does feel like a real kick in the teeth.” But he has no plans to resign: “That would be a completely illogical response to the situation.”  EH? Could we hear that again, Drew? “That would be a completely illogical response to the situation”. Right.

Drew, as you probably know, works in the Republic of Ireland, but that doesn’t mean he’s that keen on republicans, given that they killed his father who, like Drew, worked in the RUC. During his time as an RUC  man – he became Assistant Chief Constable – Drew was involved in working with MI5, which it is alleged worked with the Glenanne gang, which was responsible for the death of scores of innocent Catholics. If this is true, and Drew as far as I know has never denied it, then the no-confidence vote would be a bit like being upset with Al Capone because he didn’t pay his income tax. Anyway, it’s hard to see how one might lead a group of men and women if 99% of them have no confidence in you.

Up North, the PSNI appears to be trying to eat itself. The comic/tragic opera of the PSNI arresting a victim of the Sean Graham bookies killings  – yes I said a victim, not a perpetrator. Then followed the disciplining of the two PSNI who did the arresting, then the reversal of that decision, then the resignation of the Chief Constable, then the Policing Federation saying they’d no confidence in the Assistant Chief Constable, and so on etc.

Choose your own term: chaos, no confidence, rock-bottom morale, politicisation of policing, clusterfuck. The one thing that can be said in Chief Constable Simon Byrne’s favour is that he saw how unpopular he had become and resigned. Drew Harris faces 99% no-confidence from the men and women in his force. Will he declare it a kick in the teeth, visit a dentist and carry on? Or maybe he’s waiting for the remaining 1% to turn against him.