No direction for police to remove personal protection weapons – Boutcher

There is “absolutely no direction in place” for police officers in Northern Ireland to acede to requests from politicians to remove their personal protection weapons, Jon Boutcher has said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable also said he had received phone calls in his tenure from politicians, but told the Policing Board they were “brief, one-way calls” and that he would not accept any interference in operational matters.

Ulster Unionist MLA and former police officer Jon Burrows raised concerns in the media and the Assembly this week over “political policing”, alleging that Sinn Fein politicians had directed police officers not to carry their personal protection weapons into some meetings and party offices.

All 7,000 PSNI officers are armed with handguns which they can also carry off-duty.

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly raised the issue at the Policing Board monthly meeting in Belfast, stating it needed a response from the Chief Constable.

Mr Boutcher said: “Let me be very clear. At no stage have Sinn Fein or any other political party raised any issues with me or anybody in the executive team about police officers carrying personal protection weapons at public meetings.

“We have not been asked not to carry our weapons.”

The Chief Constable also said it was “unhelpful” to discuss issues around the security of officers in a public arena.

He added: “I insist on my police officers carrying their personal protection weapons because I am aware of the threat to them.

“It is an operational matter and it is not for any political party or other people outside of the organisation. The security of those officers is non-negotiable.

“I have spoken to the district commanders for Belfast and Derry City and Strabane because, as I understand it, that is where these issues apparently happened and both have informed me they know nothing about it.

“I have also called the (Police) Federation about it, who said they had not had any officers raise any issues with them.”

“There may have been occasions in the past, years gone by, where for all sorts of different reasons officers have not had their protection weapon with them in circumstances where, I am sure, they would have felt it was the right thing to do, because of the bespoke issue of the meeting.

“But no such directions have been made and, you know, I think, not to make such directions towards me.”

Mr Boutcher said the carrying of personal protection weapons remained a “necessary reality of policing in Northern Ireland”.

He added: “There is absolutely no direction in place for officers to agree any request not to carry their weapons.

“If such a request came, officers have my full support in politely declining any such requests.”

Ulster Unionist board member Alan Chambers said it had been conveyed to him that concerns over the issue had been raised by serving officers.

He asked the Chief Constable about the appropriateness of direct engagement between politicians and senior officers.

Mr Boutcher said: “I have had calls from political parties, which I am not going to go into, and they have been very brief calls and a one-way conversation about interfering with the independence of policing since I’ve been here.

“Those calls seem to have lessened.”

He added: “I am always open on people calling me but not to overstep on operational activity.”

DUP board member Trevor Clarke said he had been present in the past when Sinn Fein members asked officers to remove their weapons and body armour.

He said: “This is not new, it wasn’t new for me, I didn’t realise it was still going on.

“If you are giving us an assurance it is not going on that is good, but it absolutely did.”

Mr Boutcher said: “It has not been an issue during my tenure and I don’t think I could be more unequivocal in my position on it.”