An Inspection of Community Safety and Local Policing Arrangements in Northern Ireland: Including a Follow-Up Review of ‘Working Together for Safer Communities

By Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland’s (CJI’s) 

Re-building policing in the post-conflict era demanded a concerted effort to establish trust, confidence and the legitimacy of policing within all communities of Northern Ireland. Policing by consent and policing with the community were key defining principles of the Police Service of Northern Ireland which required policing to be based locally, within communities. While local policing in Northern Ireland has undergone various iterations over the last 22 years, the importance of local engagement has remained. The Community Safety Framework (the Framework) was developed to ensure partnership working on community safety issues and to provide ‘an operational roadmap’ for delivery.1 While partnership working was effective, the Framework lacked analysis of key community safety issues and contained no action plan or objectives for delivery. Knowledge of the Framework was minimal among criminal justice partners, and there was no evidence of the use of the Framework to support priority setting or to assist with delivery. It is recommended that the Department of Justice develop and publicly consult on a new community safety vision, strategy and action plan for delivery. The Community Safety Framework provided for a multi-agency governance model, however the Community Safety Board, recently renamed the Community Safety Network, did not have a governance role. A review of the Community Safety Board had identified several areas of improvement and progress was underway in the identification of shared priorities and a forward workplan. This work should continue, however the effective operation of the Community Safety Network should remain under review. The community safety arena in Northern Ireland is a crowded space. Knowledge of existing community safety structures was fragmented; greater awareness was needed to avoid duplication and to maximise the impact of the Community Safety Network. It is recommended that a mapping exercise of the existing strategic and operational community safety fora in Northern Ireland is conducted. 

Belfast: Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland’s (CJI’s), 2024, 105 pg.