PSNI chief's curbing of legacy investigations slammed

Anger has been voiced as it was revealed that the head of the PSNI is to begin curbing investigations into Troubles deaths.
George HamiltonGeorge Hamilton
George Hamilton

The news will leave many victims questioning the resolve of the PSNI to bring terrorists to justice said victims’ spokesman Kenny Donaldson, adding that “there is no sell-by date on murder”.

The PSNI has told the News Letter that it has yet to work out exact details of the move.

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The chief constable George Hamilton announced his intention to curtail legacy operations in an address at Belfast’s Policing Board headquarters last week.

He had said: “I cannot prioritise legacy investigations over present day threats to the community.

“I have asked that, in line with our statutory responsibilities, we review the costs of legacy investigations, restrict further growth and, where possible, release police officers and staff to work on present day policing.”

In the same address, he also outlined plans to reduce the PSNI’s manpower strength be another 238 officers in the next two years to cope with more budget cuts – ultimately taking police strength to about 6,600 (roughly 400 fewer than the minimum recommended number of officers).

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Although he was speaking at the Policing Board building, the address was part of a “seminar”, not a full-scale meeting.

The Policing Board itself – the panel which is supposed to scrutinise the PSNI and which helps draw up its annual plan – cannot meet properly now due to the turmoil at Stormont.

His comments on legacy appeared to attract little reaction at the time he made them on Wednesday, and were little-reported.

Afterwards the News Letter asked a number of questions – including asking for further clarity on how the chief constable envisaged cutting back on legacy probes.

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Police responded by stating that an expected budget cut of £20m this year “will have an impact right across the PSNI, including Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB)”.

Whilst it confirmed that it has already decided to “reduce the costs of legacy investigations”, the detail of how it will cut costs, and how it seeks to transfer officers from historic crimes to present-day ones, “has still to be finalised”.

At present, the annual cost of the LIB (which had 55 detectives as of February) is £4.2m.

The creation of the LIB followed on from the work of the now-defunct Historical Enquiries Team (HET).

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The LIB has picked up much of the work of reviewing cases which was left unfinished by the HET, and is currently conducting active probes into dozens of Troubles murders.

The LIB is supposed to be in operation until a new body, called the Historic Investigations Unit (HIU) is brought into being – something which has been stalled for years due to a lack of political progress.

Mr Hamilton has previously made remarks about the need to prioritise between historic and current crime within the finite resources available to him – see here for example.

Mr Donaldson, spokesman for the group Innocent Victims United, said Mr Hamilton’s remarks are part of an “establishment agenda to diminish crimes committed in the past”.

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He said: “Many from within the innocent victims and survivors of terrorism constituency will feel frustrated by what has been said (including many families whose loved ones were murdered whilst serving within the police)...

“They’ll question the resolve of the PSNI to bring to account those who’ve inflicted such grievous acts of terror on their neighbours and who have evaded accountability.”

He added the “chief constable and his service are responsible for investigating crimes of the present and of the past – there is no sell by date on murder”.

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