Officers must remain vigilant as threat level is reduced

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) is advising officers to remain vigilant despite the downgrading of the terrorism threat level from severe to substantial.

The reduced assessment by MI5 means an attack by terrorists moves from highly likely to a strong possibility.

PFNI Chair Liam Kelly said: “This revised assessment is welcome news, but it doesn’t mean our officers can relax their guard. We still have terrorists who want to murder officers and, although there have been significant inroads made against them, they remain a danger to our officers.

“We are moving in the right direction. That said, Northern Ireland is a long way from achieving a moderate or low threat level. Officers must remain vigilant and exercise great care both on and off duty. They continue to be identified and targeted and only by exercising prudent security precautions, coupled with counter-terrorism actions, will they be prevented from causing heartache and misery.  

“There will be no relaxation in the work to degrade terrorist and organised crime gangs.”