It is, apparently, a “mistake” to suggest that the police service in Northern Ireland should look vaguely like NEI.
The latest recruitment figures for the PSNI show 65.6% of applicants from a Protestant background and 26.7% from a Catholic background — the lowest level of Catholic applicants in more than a decade. In any normal society, that might prompt mild concern. In ours, it prompts a lecture about why trying to fix it would be the real problem.
The DUP leader Gavin Robinson has declared that any return to 50:50 recruitment would be a “mistake.” Quite right. Why on earth would we want a police service that reflects the community it polices? Representation is terribly overrated. Far better to rely on vibes and hope everyone feels included through the sheer power of positive thinking.
The 50:50 policy, introduced after the Good Friday Agreement, was not some wild social experiment. It was a deliberate attempt to stabilise a post-conflict society in which policing had been historically identified with one side of the house. The idea was simple: if both main communities see themselves in uniform, they might be less inclined to see the uniform as hostile.
Madness, clearly.
We are also told there has been an “absence of sustained and wholehearted leadership” from republicans encouraging Catholics to join. Perhaps. But one might gently suggest that confidence in policing is not built solely through motivational speeches. It is built when people believe the institution belongs to them too.
In NEI symbols matter. Optics matter. Headcounts matter. If one community drifts away from applying, the answer is not to shrug and declare balance passé.
A police service that mirrors the society it serves is not a concession. It is basic plumbing in a divided place. But yes, by all means, let’s call it a mistake and see how that works out.
i believe as solution to the recruitment problem would be to separate Civil policing from the Political (gangland security intelligence) policing )
i believe as solution to the recruitment problem would be to separate Civil policing from the Political (gangland security intelligence) policing )
Gavin is against 50:50. He also thinks the RUC were a fine body of men. He would probably support bringing back the B Specials and UDR. Gavin is a unionist.