Dissident murder bid probe hindered by silence of public, warns police chief Hamilton

A lack of community support is hampering an investigation into the shooting of a police officer in north Belfast last week, the Chief Constable has said.

However, George Hamilton insisted he had sufficient personnel to bring violent dissident republicans to book.

The PSNI boss speaks out in today's Belfast Telegraph after one of his officers claimed the force was "just treading water" and was seriously understaffed.

'Helen' (not her real name) claimed that the PSNI was unable to protect either the public or itself because staff numbers were so low.

But Mr Hamilton insisted he had enough officers to do the job - despite confirming that numbers were 700 below what was recommended in the Patten Report on policing.

He said he would let it be known if the numbers ever got too low for him to fulfil his legal responsibilities as Chief Constable.

Three men were arrested over the attempted murder of the PSNI officer at a filling station on the Crumlin Road last week, but all were released unconditionally.

Mr Hamilton disagreed that the investigation had hit a dead end, and said that sizeable funding was being invested in the probe, with a large team of staff led by a Detective Superintendent.

"It is still very much a priority investigation for us. Nothing should be read into the fact people are released unconditionally on the premise that people are innocent until guilt is proven, and clearly police are not in a position to be bringing charges against anyone at this stage," he said.

"We have staged a full reconstruction and there has been a lot of activity around public appeals for information because we do recognise that to solve these types of serious crime we need people to come forward and be prepared to talk to us confidentially and, hopefully, on an evidential basis to give us statements and to go into a witness box.

"We certainly haven't scaled down the investigation."

However, he said the local community had not been as forthcoming with information to help the investigation as he would like.

"There is always a reluctance when these violent dissident groups - or indeed any paramilitary or terrorist organisation - is involved," he acknowledged.

"There is a reluctance for people out of fear for their own safety to come forward and co-operate with us.

"It would be fair to say that is probably a hallmark of this investigation as well."

Mr Hamilton visited the policeman injured in the attack the following morning in hospital.

"He is a good officer, did well in training, did well in his probationary period, was out serving communities doing the job that the public expect of him when he was shot," he said.

"When I met him the morning after the incident, at that point he was very positive and enthusiastic, even though he had been in surgery for a number of hours before seeing him. He was still able to have a good conversation with me."

In terms of PSNI numbers, Mr Hamilton said he currently had 6,800 officers.

They are supported by 2,200 police staff - including professionals such as crime scene investigators, Press officers and analysts - and 900 full-time equivalents who perform duties such as guarding stations.

Even though the number of regular officers for peacetime policing is still under the 7,500 recommended in the Patten review in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Hamilton said he was realistic about his budget.

In yesterday's Belfast Telegraph Helen outlined the gruelling hours she often worked, and claimed the Chief Constable lacked empathy with officers.

Mr Hamilton emphasised that he took her concerns very seriously, and said they echoed findings in a recent staff survey, adding that issues raised - such as flexible working arrangements - were being examined.

"I was interested to read the article in your paper about the officer known as 'Helen' who obviously is a committed officer who is unhappy about certain aspects of policing and decisions that we have had to make," he said. "I really want to put the record straight on this - I don't set the police budget. I get the police budget and I then have to make decisions about how to spend it.

"If I wanted to put more officers in north Belfast, for example, on a permanent basis, I would have to take them from somewhere else.

"This is all about managing risk and making sure we do our best, not only to keep the community safe but to keep our officers safe. That is really important to me.

"Patten said that a proper peacetime figure would be 7,500. We are 700 below that, but at the same time Patten didn't suggest that we have 900 services staff, which we have; Patten didn't envisage the strides that we would make in technology.

"So there are all these other enabling factors which make me not wedded to the figure of 7,500 officers. If this ever gets to the point where it is so critical I can't fulfil my legal responsibilities, then I will tell the politicians and the public that, and we are not at that point yet," he stated.

Asked if he felt his officers were safe, Mr Hamilton replied: "Policing is an emergency service. Policing is a dynamic and sometimes dangerous occupation, and that's why I really admire the people like Helen in your article who, like me, signed up to keep people safe.

"Keeping people safe cannot be expressed in absolute terms because things happen, but there is a question about what is reasonable in the circumstances. And 6,800 officers, plus the IT support we have, plus the police staff colleagues and the managed services - all of that leads me to a conclusion that, as the person in charge of policing, that is sufficient for now.

"If that ever changes I will make that known very clearly - as I have done in the past.

"I have been quite outspoken in terms of police finances.

"We have taken our fair share of cuts over the past five, six years and I think we have shown we have become a much more efficient organisation."

Belfast Telegraph