PSNI at ‘breaking point’ amid funding crisis, Police Federation chairman warns

The PSNI is at “breaking point”, with officers making mistakes due to burnout, the head of the Policing Federation has said.

Liam Kelly accused Stormont ministers of serving up “platitudes and promises” to fix the crisis but failing to deliver tangible action.

The chairman of the body representing rank and file officers reiterated his criticism of Stormont for not funding Chief Constable Jon Boutcher’s plan to increase PSNI numbers.

Last year, Mr Boutcher drew up a recovery plan to increase the service’s headcount to 7,000 from about 6,300 officers, requiring £200 million of additional funding over five years.

Last week, Mr Kelly used his speech at the Police Federation’s annual conference in Co Fermanagh to accuse ministers of “shredding” that plan.

In response, Justice minister Naomi Long said Mr Kelly’s comments were “inaccurate and extremely unhelpful”.

She said his narrative only served to “unsettle and demotivate an already pressurised police service”.

Ms Long insisted the recovery plan business case had been approved in value for money terms. She said the “challenge” remained to identify the funding to implement the plan.

On Sunday, Mr Kelly rejected Ms Long’s comments, insisting there could be no further delay in moves to bolster officer headcount.

“Our numbers have been going backwards for years, and we’ve got to the point now where we’re in crisis. We’re at breaking point and the Chief Constable has asked for funding around that,” he told BBC NI’s Sunday Politics programme.

“The reality around it is that Stormont have come back to say that his business case represents value for money, so they can support that aspect of it.

“However, they have said that he has to basically live within his means for now, because the funding is not there. The affordability is the key around this.”

He added: “We need to grow our organisation, and we need to grow our organisation now. And this recovery plan was going to steady the ship. It was going to help us now. And our officers actually see that there is a way out of this crisis that we find ourselves in, and now we’re being told by Stormont that the money’s not there, so therefore, in my view, that is shredded.

“We’ve had enough platitudes given to us over a long period of time. We need affirmative action, and we need that action now.”

Mr Kelly said Stormont introducing new revenue raising measures to help fund the police service should not be taken off the table.

“This is about our officers having to do more with less, and what we’re seeing is our officers are burning out,” he added.

“They have increased workloads. They’re making mistakes. Things aren’t happening that should be happening, and, ultimately, if our officers don’t have the trust and confidence of the public in relation to the police and service that we provide, then we’re in a really, really bad place.

“So we need to turn this around, and we need to turn this around very, very quickly.”