PSNI chief confident targets can be met

The local policing chief said the PSNI will provide visible, accessible and responsive policing over the year and that he will have the resources to do this including sixty extra cops who will be deployed here over the next nine months.

The plan - developed following widespread consultation - aims to reduce the number of robberies in the city by 5 per cent, reduce repeat domestic abuse by 10 per cent and reduce the number of non-domestic injury crimes by 5 per cent.

It also sets to tackle key priorities like drugs head on. If Chief Inspector Yates and his colleagues are successful they will have increased the detection rate for possession with intent to supply of controlled drugs by 10 per cent.

He also hopes to reduce the number of incidents of antisocial behaviour to ensure a 15 per cent reduction by 31 March 2011.

Equally, boosting community confidence is a key objective. But does he have the money to do it?

"Thankfully money is an issue that I don't have to be involved in. I'm given a budget and I'm asked to set the local priorities and I'm asked to deliver with the budget I have," said the Foyle Area Commander.

"If you're asking me if I'm satisfied with the level of resources that I have, then I can say I'm entirely satisfied."

Chief Inspector Yates said an extra allocation of sixty police officers will be made available to him as a result of a re-organisation underway within the PSNI.

The new officers will come from a pool of office based police who are being assessed for a return to more visible policing.

But what of the ongoing threat from violent republicans? Londonderry is said to be a stronghold. Chief Inspector Yates says he has been allocated an additional budget to counter terrorism and that this is "substantial."

"Clearly, these are very sensitive issues," said Chief Inspector Yates. "Suffice to say very substantial amounts of money have been made available to me in order to run and operate counter-terrorism - substantial amounts of money and that's over and above my normal budget."

He said despite decreasing budgets for normal policing including a 27 per cent reduction in his over time budget he has the money to achieve his targets in the face of the dissident republican threat.

"We still have available to us a substantial budget for counter-terrorist activities. Now I'm not going to disclose what that is for very obvious reasons but suffice to say, I am very comfortable with that situation, I'm very comfortable with the fact I'm getting additional resources," he said.

Chief Inspector Yates also said he calls the shots in terms of policing in Londonderry and that he is made aware of the activity of any other agencies operating in the city.

"Clearly there a very, very sensitive intelligence issues that I will have an overview of," he said. "This is my city - from a policing point of view - and I expect to be told whenever anything is happening in this city.

"Now I don't necessarily need to know about an operation that's coming in three months time. So certainly if something's happening in the city this morning I want to know about it.

"I want to make sure there is good communication between the police and local community representatives so that if there is any misunderstanding about what's going on or there is any backlash or public disorder that spills out of it we are in a position to deal with that as quickly as possible."

And clearly drug dealing - identified as a key concern in his recent appraisal of progress in Foyle between April 2009 and December 2009 - will continue to preoccupy the PSNI here in 2010/11.

"The drugs issues is something that everybody is speaking to me about. I think it is at the top of everybody's agenda in the city and has been for a while," he commented.

"The reality is people don't want drug dealers operating in our communities and people are happy to pass information to us. It's a big issue and one we have put a lot of resources into."