Second PSNI officer joins Paula Hilman as Garda appointee

As well as formally confirming the appointment of Detective Chief Superintendent Paula Hilman MBE as an Assistant Commissioner, the policing body in the Republic said that long-serving PSNI Chief Inspector Stephen McCauley will become an AGS superintendent next month.

Ms Hilman is currently head of the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch, responsible for investigating domestic and sexual abuse, offender management and online child abuse imagery.

She was one of 23 applicants for the post – 18 male and five female – but the only one who was not a serving Garda officer.

In September 2018, former PSNI deputy chief constable Drew Harris became the first person from outside the AGS to be appointed Garda Commissioner.

Ms Hilman joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1985 and continued her service following the formation of the PSNI in 2001.

Rising through the ranks, she would go on to establish herself as a Gold Public Order Commander and a Strategic Firearms Commander. She has been in charge of policing at a number of high-profile events, including the Irish Open Golf Tournament, and been at the forefront of a number of major public order operations across Belfast.

Ms Hilman is the current president of the Superintendents’ Association of Northern Ireland – the first female to hold the position.

On Thursday, Irish Policing Authority chairman Bob Collins said: “The Authority is delighted to appoint a person of Paula Hilman’s experience and quality to this senior position in the Garda Síochana. She adds a distinctive perspective to the Senior Leadership Team, bringing a range of different experiences and perspectives.”

Her appointment brings to four the number of female officers serving in the ranks of Assistant Commissioner and above in the AGS.

The rank of assistant commissioner is the third highest in the Garda, behind the commissioner and deputy commissioner.

There are eight assistant commissioners in total, each one responsible for a specific region or area of policing in the Republic.

The Authority has also confirmed that PSNI C/Insp McCauley, who is due to retire from the PSNI this week, will commence his role as a Garda superintendent in early May.

C/Insp McCauley has more than 30 years’ policing experience, including spells in frontline operational policing, neighbourhood policing, public order and roads policing.