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Northern Ireland’s police chief resigned on Monday under pressure from officials, staff and politicians who disciplined officers two years ago, fueling anger over a major data breach last month.
Constable Simon Byrne has tendered his resignation at an emergency meeting of the Police Commission, the watchdog body for the Police Service in Northern Ireland.
“It’s time for someone new to lead this proud and determined organization,” Byrne said in a statement.
His resignation came after the High Court in Belfast last week highlighted possible political interference in disciplinary action against two junior officers in 2021. The incident came amid a notorious attack by pro-British loyalist paramilitary forces during a period marking three decades of unrest in the region. conflict.
Byrne initially accepted the High Court’s decision but announced he may appeal after a marathon questioning by the Police Commission last week. It was the final straw for PSNI’s nearly 10,000 officers and staff, who were already furious over a massive data breach in August.
Their personal details were inadvertently posted to the internet by the PSNI in a mistake that some fear could put them in danger in an area where violent republican groups continue to target police.
Byrne resigned before facing at least one planned no-confidence vote in the coming days.
Liam Kelly, president of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said Byrne’s position had become “questionable and then untenable”.
He added: “Morale in the army has never been lower . . . whoever succeeds Mr. Byrne has a mountain to climb . . . to restore credibility.”
The police chief, who was awarded a medal for his services to UK policing in 2016, has served as Northern Ireland’s police chief since 2019 and recently extended his mandate until 2027.
Known for his tenacity, he vowed last week not to resign.
Byrne, who served in Merseyside, Manchester and the Metropolitan Police Force, was suspended in 2017 after being accused of bullying and humiliating staff. In 2018, all 74 misconduct charges against him were cleared.
But a series of missteps – including posing for a photo with heavily armed officers in the heart of what has been dubbed “robber country” during the unrest – have dogged his tenure in Belfast. The funding crisis has also reduced staff numbers and further sapped morale.
The latest scandal erupted last week, when a judicial review found that the National Police had illegally disciplined two police officers in 2021 because of “real or perceived” threats from the nationalist party Sinn Féin that if it did not, They will remove support for the police.
Sinn Fein has denied any such move.
Policing was overhauled after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended troubles involving pro-Irish Unity republican paramilitary forces, pro-British Loyalist paramilitary forces and British security forces.
But the latest scandal has exposed the force’s struggles to recruit and retain Catholic and nationalist officers, with reports of internal miscommunication and other missteps.
“You can put in a new police chief and these problems won’t go away,” said Edward Burke, an assistant professor specializing in political violence at University College Dublin.
Replacing Byrne would also pose another problem: a new police chief would need to be approved by the justice minister, but Northern Ireland has no government because of protests against Brexit by the region’s largest pro-UK party, the Democratic Unionist Party. .
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