Police Service of Northern Ireland

Now, I was sitting going, what is going on? What's happening? The police were called.

The PSNI was called.

And you know the way you get a good cop and then you get a bad one? But you know, through all this, I was sitting and I had confidence.

I didn't do nothing wrong.

Yeah, but you wouldn't know which lad you get in the business.

No, but I think, I think inherently the PSNI are.

Are supportive.

Supportive

And we as a programme often question that.

So last week on this programme, we reported on how the PSNI, their official position is they don't reckon a flag... on a lamppost beside a park where both communities are going into saying Billy was right.

That's the notorious loyalist paramilitary leader of the LVF, Billy, right.

Billy was right.

Now this, as I say, it had a City Council logo on it.

We also saw how there was a public statement issued at the time from the Belfast City Council authorities saying they did not condone the use of their logo on this flag.

Now, whenever we were reporting on this a number of months ago, the Department for Infrastructure said it was liaising with the PSNI about this issue.

But now, as you say, through Freedom of Information requests, we've obtained an internal correspondence which gives an insight into what was happening behind the scenes.

The police ombudsman in the north has said the PSNI ran an inadequate investigation when a suspected killer was reported for indecent exposure.

The incident happened years before the showjumper Jonathan Cresswell was accused of the rape and murder of 21-year-old Katie Simpson, his partner's sister.

Today, the Ombudsman issued a report over a complaint about Cresswell made in 2015, five years before Katie's death.

The officers initially believed Creswell's account that Katie had taken her own life, even though he had a conviction for violent abuse of a previous partner.

It was only a year before he was arrested for the murder.

After his death and the conclusion of the case, a review was highly critical of the PSNI.

It was accused of institutional misogyny and a lack of investigative rigour.

It really was a damning indictment of the BS9 as they grapple with a serious problem of violence against women and girls, which has seen more than 30 women murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020, including Katie Simpson.

Anyway, thank you, uh, if you listen to the podcast each day on the Nolan Show.

So, uh, the PSNI, uh, are to give more officers tasers.

That's controversial in itself because tasers are controversial, but this comes, uh, just a, a, a few days, our story today, after John Boucher has told the Policing Board last week that police officers in Northern Ireland are more reluctant to take preemptive force to stop themselves getting hit.

He says across the water they don't wait to get punched.

The Stephen Nolan Show.

Good morning, everyone.

The Nolan Show can reveal this morning that the PSNI is set to arm more police officers with tasers in Northern Ireland.

Now, that's controversial as there are some who are worried about the dangers of taser.

Great

... um, and from the PSNI in, in the north-

Very good

... um, to, to ensure that, like, you know, safety is paramount.

Now we're doing 25th of 9-11.

We did one on policing, and I've just written an essay for the collection on the 25th anniversary of the PSNI.

No police reform ever worked as well as this one did.

So I've lost my train of thought.