Federation calls for urgent action on Brexit security issues
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) is calling for certainty, direction and clarity around Brexit and what it will mean for policing in Northern Ireland after March next year.
PFNI Chair, Mark Lindsay, said Officers want to see border security issues sorted out and with only four months to go before the UK leaves the EU, there needed to be the injection of urgency into the process.
Mr Lindsay said: “The political turmoil around Brexit is for politicians to resolve, but what we are saying is accelerate contingency planning to prepare for what happens from April 1st.
“We cannot afford to sleepwalk into a situation where, at the last minute, officers are re-deployed from cities and towns such as Belfast, Ballymena or Coleraine to some of the major crossing points along the 310-mile border with the Republic of Ireland.
“We need hundreds more officers if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. The case has already been made by the PSNI for more resources, and decisions are now overdue.
“We simply cannot produce three-four hundred officers overnight and if Government approval for an increase in the size of the PSNI isn’t forthcoming quite soon, then we will be left to confront major gaps in service provision as we race to meet requirements in a ‘hard’ Brexit scenario.
“I am appealing to all concerned to make this a major priority and to get it sorted out without further procrastination. It is much too serious an issue to leave on the long finger.”