Policing in Northern Ireland “cannot fail” and must “get the funding it deserves”, the newly appointed Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable has said.
Jon Boutcher pledged to lobby government at “every single level” to address the £52 million yearly budget shortfall facing the service, which is also dealing with a staffing crisis and rocketing sickness absence.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday following confirmation on Tuesday evening that he had secured the North’s most senior policing job, Mr Boutcher described the current financial position as “really challenging” but one that was “mirrored across public services”.
“I’m conscious that others will be (lobbying) for other public services. But policing in Northern Ireland and we all are alive to this, cannot fail. In this particular place, policing has to be funded in a way that we know we can make people safe,” he said.
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He also insisted that while he would listen to political concerns, the independence of policing was “sacrosanct”.
“My reputation is very well known for independence in policing – I think it’s fairly well known I’m quite a robust individual,” he said.
The 58-year-old former English police chief has been serving as interim PSNI chief constable for the past month after Simon Byrne stepped down in September following a series of controversies, including an unprecedented data leak.
Mr Boutcher said that despite reports of low morale, he was “delighted” by the welcome he had received.
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“I have to say that everywhere I’ve went, I’ve been met with hugely positive responses,” he said.
He added that there were officers and staff who sometimes felt they “operate in fear of getting things wrong and the unfair consequences of doing that”.
“Sometimes – sometimes – we get things wrong but when we do get things wrong we will learn from those issues collectively,” he said. “Everybody makes mistakes. We are not robots we are human beings and by and large the service that is provided by this organisation is best in class in this country.”
For the past seven years, Mr Boutcher has headed up an independent £37 million investigation into the British army’s top spy during the Troubles. Known as Operation Kenova, its report is expected to be published in the coming weeks.
Mr Boutcher’s team investigated multiple murders linked to the British agent known as Stakeknife, widely believed to be west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci. Part of the vast inquiry’s remit included the examination of the role of the British state and security forces, including the former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), in the killings.
Sitting alongside Mr Boutcher at Wednesday’s press conference, the vice chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Edgar Jardine, said assurances had been given that there would be no conflict between Mr Boutcher’s new role and his previous job overseeing Operation Kenova.
Asked about a timescale for the report’s release and the reaction from families involved in the investigation, Mr Boutcher said “not one family has said anything to me about conflict of interest” and that Kenova is “effectively ready for publication”.
He confirmed the report has now been passed to the PSNI’s deputy chief constable, Chris Todd and that he had “rightly recused” himself from the arrangements on deciding on a publication date.
He added: “I’ve never walked away from anything in my entire service and I will not walk away from those families; I’ve spoken to three families this morning because they rang me about this appointment. The response from the Kenova families to me and this job has been huge. They have been incredible. What they’ve been through and how badly they’ve been let down over many years by many different organisations should never be forgotten.”
