11293 report 19 - CAIN - University of Ulster

Current discussions about transferring C-4 Crime Support to a different assistant chief constablemay be inconsistent with the intent of this recommendation.Recommendation 102: Police Postings in Security WorkPatten Recommendation:102. Officers should not spend such long periods in security work as has been common in thepast.Lead Responsibility: Chief ConstableRecommendation StatusCompliance with this recommendation has been achieved.HistoryThe Independent Commission noted during its review that some police officers had spent 10, 15or even 20 years in one specialisation. It was recommended that a tenure policy be developed,both to avoid the development of cliques within the Police Service and to ensure that officers didnot lose contact with the core function of community policing. A comprehensive draft tenurepolicy applying to all police posts was endorsed by the Policing Board in October of 2003.This policy categorises Crime Support and Intelligence positions as “Specialist” posts and “CoreSpecialist” posts respectively. Core Specialist posts will have flexible tenure policy applied. At theend of the fixed five-year tenure period, a chief officer or head of department may extend theperiod of tenure by a maximum of two years. Specialist posts will have a fixed five-year tenureperiod. When a chief officer or department head believes that the post requires a longer periodof fixed tenure, this may be agreed with the Director of Human Resources. The maximum fixedtenure in any post will be seven years.The Policing Board’s Human Resources Committee considered representations by the PoliceService in February of 2006, and agreed that the Police Service would continue to apply tenureprinciples, but not as strictly or comprehensively as previously imagined. However, tenure controlswill continue to apply in specific areas including criminal intelligence and training, on a managedbasis (see also Recommendation 83).The recommendation is affected in practice by theGovernment’s decision to have the Security Service assume responsibility for national security inNorthern Ireland (see also Recommendation 99).Recommendation 103: Phasing Out of Full Time ReservePatten Recommendation:103. The future police service should not include a Full Time Reserve.Lead Responsibility: NIO/Chief ConstableRecommendation Status126Full compliance with this recommendation has not yet been achieved (Moderate Progress).