Justice Minister Naomi Long has warned those who she said posted "appalling and disgraceful" comments on social media over a new PSNI recruitment poster that they could face criminal charges.

Her comments came after the PSNI launched a recruitment drive on Wednesday.

One of the PSNI's promotional flyers tweeted on X featured a female ethnic minority officer, and attracted a number of comments online.

Speaking later on the BBC Nolan Show, Justice Minister Naomi Long said the recruitment drive "was good news in terms of increasing diversity and increasing representation in the PSNI" but that the reaction was "absolutely appalling and disgraceful".

The problem, she said, "actually isn't Northern Ireland...I think we can trace that back to the owner [of X Elon Musk], who did away with any kind of fact checking, any kind of protective mechanism for people online".

She added that "many of these comments, if they can be traced, would be a breach of the law as it stands, and many of them may be in contravention, for example, of the Communications Act".

PSNI Officer Andy George, who is also the president of the UK National Black Police Association, told the Nolan Show that the reaction to the advert was "a real disappointment" to officers and staff within the PSNI who come from ethnic minority backgrounds.

It turned "a really positive day" into something "which causes division vision which has the potential to stop us being the police service that we need to be".

placeholder image — The flyer posted by the PSNI on Wednesday to launch their new recruitment drive.

He said that the percentage of the PSNI staff who are from ethnic minorities must increase to reflect the wider population of Northern Ireland.

Only 0.7% of the PSNI are currently from an ethnic minority background compared to 3.4% of the population, according to the 2021 census.

Speaking on behalf of the Policing Board, DUP member Trevor Clarke said: “Policing must be reflective and representative of the community it serves, and the board fully supports the PSNI campaign and outreach work being undertaken to encourage applications so that the service is fully representative of the diversity of our community.

“A strong message must be sent that racism in any form is not acceptable and must be called out.”

PSNI Chief Operating Officer Pamela McCreedy also condemned the comments

She said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland is committed to being representative of the communities we serve.

"With respect to our Student Officer recruitment campaign, we are aware of a number of inappropriate and unacceptable posts circulating on social media.

"We will continue to use our advertising and outreach activities to encourage people from all communities, particularly those currently under-represented within the Service, to apply for a career in policing.”