Policing the North

Sir, - Chris Ryder (Opinion, January 11th) made a strong case, as did your Editorial that day, for full support to be given to…

Sir, - Chris Ryder (Opinion, January 11th) made a strong case, as did your Editorial that day, for full support to be given to the new Police Service for Northern Ireland.

In making his point, however, he berated the Police Federation for Northern Ireland for opposing the name change from the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He and others should accept that it was quite within our right to oppose the change. We are a democratically elected employee representative body and the stance we took reflected accurately and consistently the views of our 12,000 members. He also fails to acknowledge our contribution to the Patten Report in areas such as training, recruiting and community policing.

What he could have included in his article was an acknowledgement, which I know he accepts, that immediately the Police Act concluded its passage through Parliament and received the royal assent, the federation accepted the new position. We have no difficulty in now moving forward to implement the Act. It is a pity, as Chris Ryder and your own newspaper point out, that others will not do so, preferring to use policing as a political football. - Yours, etc.,

L. Rodgers, Chairman, Police Federation, for Northern Ireland, Garnerville Road, Belfast 4.