Stevens to address NI police on corruption

Britain's top police officer is set to attend an international conference in Belfast focusing on corruption within the ranks.

Britain's top police officer is set to attend an international conference in Belfast focusing on corruption within the ranks.

Metropolitan Commissioner Sir John Stevens, who uncovered collusion between the security forces and paramilitary killers in Northern Ireland, will be joined by chief constables from across Britain and around the world.

The three-day event in November, organised by Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, will involve discussions on police use of force.

More than 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference, including the heads of police complaints systems in South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Canada.

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Officers will be told of the demands placed on Northern Ireland's police service as it undergoes extensive reforms in a bid to gain support from both sides of the sectarian divide.

With police accountability in the spotlight, the key issues set to be explored include identifying and managing officers at risk of corruption, public order policing, police ethics and human rights.

So-called restorative justice schemes, public confidence in the police and how forces can operate acceptably in a counter-terrorism environment will also be explored.Sir John has spent 14 years investigating allegations that covert police and military units aided the loyalist terrorists who murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane in February 1989.

Earlier this year, he issued a damning report confirming there was collusion between intelligence operatives and the paramilitaries.