Can PSNI data breach review by truly independent when PSNI are co-commissioners, asks councillor

The Policing Board has been accused of not asserting its independence and being "desperate to retain a failed chief constable in office" after it jointly commissioned a review with the PSNI of the recent police data breaches.
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By Graeme Cousins
Published 22nd Aug 2023, 21:16 BST

Although the review will be independently led the vice chair of the policing board said he expects the lead to report simultaneously to the policing board and the PSNI.

TUV’s Allister Kyle believes this would give the police privileges not usually afforded to those under scrutiny.

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The “independently led end-to-end review” was announced by Policing Board Chair Deirdre Toner after personal data on all 9,483 serving members of the PSNI was mistakenly published earlier this month in response to a freedom of information request.

The Policing Board held a special meeting followed by a private session with the Chief Constable Simon Byrne. The Police Service of Northern Ireland mistakenly shared details about 10,000 officers and staff. There have also been a number of other data breaches in the following weeks. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.The Policing Board held a special meeting followed by a private session with the Chief Constable Simon Byrne. The Police Service of Northern Ireland mistakenly shared details about 10,000 officers and staff. There have also been a number of other data breaches in the following weeks. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.
The Policing Board held a special meeting followed by a private session with the Chief Constable Simon Byrne. The Police Service of Northern Ireland mistakenly shared details about 10,000 officers and staff. There have also been a number of other data breaches in the following weeks. Photo by Jonathan Porter / Press Eye.

A number of other data breaches have since come to light, including the loss of a police officer’s laptop and notebook which contained details of 42 officers and members of staff after the items fell from a moving vehicle last week.

Mr Kyle said that the Policing Board had “missed an obvious opportunity to assert its independence” by taking exclusive ownership of the review.

He said that rather than build confidence, the Policing Board is “seemingly desperate to retain a failed chief constable in office”.

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When asked about the independence of the review given that it had been co-commissioned, vice chair of the Policing Board Edgar Jardine said the review team has “no relationship with the PSNI”.

Mr Jardine said: “We have, I think, really a fairly strong team working on it and (there) will be very frequent feedback into the board so we will have an opportunity to challenge where we have concerns.”

Mr Jardine said the board was “unanimous” in its support for the chief constable.

He also has the support of Ulster Unionist Policing Board representative Mike Nesbitt, who said: “Regarding the future of the Chief Constable and his senior colleagues, I remain convinced they are best placed to handle the immediate fallout of the multiple and potentially catastrophic errors.”

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