improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
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<strong>improving</strong><br />
<strong>government</strong><br />
<strong>service</strong><br />
<strong>delivery</strong><br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>minority</strong><br />
<strong>ethnic</strong> groups<br />
Chapter 2: Northern Ireland Research Findings 56_57<br />
116_www.psni.police.uk<br />
117_‘Dispatch’ Police<br />
Service for Northern Ireland<br />
Public Affairs Bulletin. Issue<br />
08 February 2005.<br />
“The Police Service of Northern Ireland has a clear policy in respect of the investigation of these incidents.<br />
If you report at a police station a room will be made available where you can discuss the mater in private. A<br />
police officer will be appointed <strong>to</strong> carry out an investigation and you will be kept informed of any developments.<br />
You should note the police officer’s name and station, date and incident number for future reference. The local<br />
Minority Liaison Officer will be informed and unless you indicate otherwise this officer will contact you <strong>to</strong> offer<br />
advice and support The police will deal with your complaint in a professional, confidential and sensitive manner.”<br />
The PSNI have a Minority Liaison Officer (MLO) in each police district. These officers deal with incidents<br />
relating <strong>to</strong> hate crime including racial incidents. MLOs do not receive planned specialised training but are<br />
trained on various issues as and when required:<br />
“ We would identify a training need and bring trainers in, quite often external trainers…<br />
we may do a day focussing on specifics…we’ve done training on asylum seekers and<br />
refugees and a day on religious diversity. However we are looking at a specific training<br />
course for MLOs.”<br />
It was recognised that larger police divisions such as the Metropolitan Police do have more specific training<br />
with Diversity Units in place but that this would be difficult for a police force the size of the PSNI. However, the<br />
police training college are conducting an audit in<strong>to</strong> the training currently being provided and delivered.<br />
The PSNI and An Garda Siochána in the Republic of Ireland do at times have joint initiatives. One such<br />
initiative is the diversity-training programme with funding being received from the Special EU Programmes Body<br />
Peace II <strong>to</strong> develop the training programme for both police <strong>service</strong>s; the programme is currently being rolled out<br />
in the two jurisdictions.<br />
The Report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (The Patten Report) recommended<br />
that cooperation be developed between the PSNI and An Garda Siochána; thus a personnel exchange recently<br />
<strong>to</strong>ok place between the two organisations with the view of sharing expertise and building relations.<br />
Case Example 7 – Policing<br />
A Public Awareness Programme – PSNI ‘Hate Crime is Wrong’ 116<br />
The ‘Hate Crime is Wrong’ poster campaign was launched by the PSNI in the six district command units<br />
with the highest incidence of hate crimes in January 2005. Inspec<strong>to</strong>r Robin Dempsey of the Police Service<br />
Community Safety Branch said:<br />
“This poster campaign is one of a number of initiatives which police are using <strong>to</strong> highlight the nature and impact<br />
of hate crime. Reporting is one way of ensuring that further incidents are prevented and offenders held <strong>to</strong><br />
account and we want <strong>to</strong> encourage people, whether they are victims of a crime or witnesses <strong>to</strong> an incident, <strong>to</strong><br />
report it <strong>to</strong> the police.” 117<br />
The posters were placed throughout Northern Ireland and aimed <strong>to</strong> “prick the conscience of the Northern<br />
Ireland public”.