New PSNI Command structure revealed

Superintendent Ryan Henderson will be District Commander for Mid & East Antrim and Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray has been appointed Co-ordinator for Northern Area which includes Mid & East Antrim, it was announced on Thursday.

Outlining the new structure, Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin, the senior officer responsible for District Policing, said:

“Some key decisions have already been taken in relation to the new policing structure and how it will function. Senior officers have now been appointed to deliver policing within Northern Ireland’s communities and their core purpose will be to continue to ‘Keep People Safe’ through the ethos of Policing with the Community.

“We will move from the existing seven policing Districts to 11. While leaner and more streamlined the new 11 Districts will focus on local priorities under the leadership of a District Commander.

“The Districts will be supported by an Area co-ordinating tier covering Belfast and Northern and Southern parts of Northern Ireland. These will provide additional resources to help deal with local priorities and emerging threat, risk and harm issues. They will have the ability to muster and move resources to where the need is greatest on a daily basis.

“I would urge the public to understand that there must be changes in the way that policing services are delivered as we continue to restructure. The impact of the budget cuts will not be felt on District policing alone; it will be right across the full spectrum of policing.

“We are still in the process of finalising details on the exact structure of front line service delivery but it’s been decided that response teams will no longer exist. Instead there will be a mixture of 25 Local Policing Teams (LPTs) and over 30 Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) across Northern Ireland as well as local detectives in each District.

“We recognise this represents a reduction to the current number of NPTs across Northern Ireland, however the LPTs are an exciting development. They will not just attend calls but actually start to develop a greater sense of ownership of the area and the problems within it.”

He continued: “The LPTs will be multi-functional and deliver core policing on a daily basis as well as find solutions to problems in a much more Policing with the Community style than the previous response teams.

“We also recognise that some areas across Northern Ireland have higher levels of crime and deprivation, as well as elements of remoteness and it is important that we maintain their confidence. Neighbourhood Policing Teams will be based in these areas to provide a dedicated extra policing presence, reassurance and commitment to communities where it is most needed.”