UNEASE AT HANDLING OF BOMB PROBE
Unease at handling of bomb probe
BY ADRIAN MULLAN
THE Policing Board suffered a major setback this week as a new survey by the Northern Ireland Research and Statistics Agency found that 81 per cent of respondents thought that the Board had badly handled the row over Police Ombudsman's report into the Omagh bombing inquiry.
Less than one fifth of respondents, 19%, thought the Policing Board handled the issue well compared with 49% who thought the Board handled it poorly or very poorly.
Of those who thought that the bomb inquiry issue was handled well, the majority were Catholics.
According to the survey, people living in the South West of the Six Counties were more likely to think that the Board handled the debate well or very well.
These were a number of findings revealed in the annual Omnibus survey conducted by the government agency. Other findings were that over two thirds of respondents (70%) thought that the police in their area treated Catholics and Protestants equally. This is three per cent down on the 1991 findings.
According to the survey there was an endorsement of the police's ability to provide an ordinary day to day policing service for all the people of Northern Ireland.
Some 79% professed some, a lot, or total confidence in the police's ability to provide a day to day policing service for everyone in NI.
Sixty nine per cent of Catholics had some, a lot or total confidence in the police's ability to provide a day to day policing service for everyone. In comparison 85% of Protestant respondents had some degree of confidence in the police's ability to provide day to day service, a drop of 5% from the October 2001 survey.
Just under 60% of Catholic respondents had some, a lot, or total confidence in the police's ability to deal with public disorder situations compared to 80% of Protestant respondents.
However, despite the public awareness of terms such as 'community policing' and 'policing with the community' just twenty one per cent of Catholic respondents said they knew any police officers by name or sight, in the Protestant community 30% of respondents knew police officers by name or sight.
Most Catholic and Protestants (74% and 68% respectively) thought the overall standard of police service in their area had remained the same in the last year. However 9% of Catholics surveyed thought the service in their area had improved.
BY ADRIAN MULLAN
THE Policing Board suffered a major setback this week as a new survey by the Northern Ireland Research and Statistics Agency found that 81 per cent of respondents thought that the Board had badly handled the row over Police Ombudsman's report into the Omagh bombing inquiry.
Less than one fifth of respondents, 19%, thought the Policing Board handled the issue well compared with 49% who thought the Board handled it poorly or very poorly.
Of those who thought that the bomb inquiry issue was handled well, the majority were Catholics.
According to the survey, people living in the South West of the Six Counties were more likely to think that the Board handled the debate well or very well.
These were a number of findings revealed in the annual Omnibus survey conducted by the government agency. Other findings were that over two thirds of respondents (70%) thought that the police in their area treated Catholics and Protestants equally. This is three per cent down on the 1991 findings.
According to the survey there was an endorsement of the police's ability to provide an ordinary day to day policing service for all the people of Northern Ireland.
Some 79% professed some, a lot, or total confidence in the police's ability to provide a day to day policing service for everyone in NI.
Sixty nine per cent of Catholics had some, a lot or total confidence in the police's ability to provide a day to day policing service for everyone. In comparison 85% of Protestant respondents had some degree of confidence in the police's ability to provide day to day service, a drop of 5% from the October 2001 survey.
Just under 60% of Catholic respondents had some, a lot, or total confidence in the police's ability to deal with public disorder situations compared to 80% of Protestant respondents.
However, despite the public awareness of terms such as 'community policing' and 'policing with the community' just twenty one per cent of Catholic respondents said they knew any police officers by name or sight, in the Protestant community 30% of respondents knew police officers by name or sight.
Most Catholic and Protestants (74% and 68% respectively) thought the overall standard of police service in their area had remained the same in the last year. However 9% of Catholics surveyed thought the service in their area had improved.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1034
Published Date: 27-Jun-02
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