Mutual Aid is ‘sticking plaster’ for under-pressure PSNI

The Chair of the Police Federation Liam Kelly says the call for 200 Mutual Aid officers from forces across the water is ‘a sticking plaster’ for a PSNI that is under-resourced with too few officers.

The Chief Constable says Mutual Aid has been triggered and he expects the 200 officers to be in Northern Ireland tomorrow.

Mr Kelly said: ‘Mutual Aid is invaluable. It is there if and when we require essential back-filling by colleagues from across the water.

“However, Mutual Aid masks the continuing problems being experienced by the PSNI. We are 700 officers below the target, and 1,200 short of what was envisaged when the PSNI came into being in 2021.

“We have a budget that is less than it was last year and political turmoil that blocks a meaningful three-year funding stream to allow for much-needed recruitment and proper growth.

“Right now, our colleagues are doing a first-class job quelling and containing disturbances following the awful stabbing incident in north Belfast Monday evening.

“We have witnessed scenes that are disgraceful and are reminiscent of fascism and racism than anything else.

“For as long as there is unrest, we’ll have officers on the ground doing all they can to protect people and detect and arrest law-breakers.”