The role of the police force is to uphold people's human rights, particularly their rights to life, security and property. The stress upon the importance of Community Policing is also particularly important. It is to be hoped that improvements in the security situation allow this to happen. However, we are concerned that any downsizing should be based on security considerations, not political expediency. We feel that they will detract from the principle of merit, are illegal under both Northern Ireland and European Law, and are not actually necessary.
Quotas are a tool to address problems is selection procedure.
We want to make sure that our police service is representative of the whole community. We also want to make sure it recruits the best people from all sections of our community. I would like to pay my thanks to them here. In Antrim and Newtownabbey this year, particularly over the summer, we learned just how many bigots there remain willing to murder and destroy. I understand that the change in name is painful for them, but I think it is essential to ensure that our police service gets the support it deserves from across this community.