Police Federation chair Liam Kelly on the controversy over the PSNI's LGBT+ Network
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00:00In the news this week, there have been reports about the PS&I's LGBT network.
00:06It's a network that has been consistently in the headlines over the past number of years
00:12over a number of issues including whether the police officer should march in the Pride Parade
00:16and then this week a story where it offered support for PS&I officers with their exams
00:22so long as they identified as LGBT+.
00:26Is there a feeling amongst officers broadly that the behaviour of that network in particular
00:35is damaging their reputation and the reputation of the PS&I as impartial?
00:41I think it's the overall terror of what happened, what was badly faced,
00:49if we may be the most diplomatic way of putting that.
00:53I think the network themselves realised that they potentially have overstepped the mark
00:59in relation to what their intention was by their own phraseology that was used.
01:06I'm confident that the PS&I has addressed that with them directly.
01:10We use this as a learning opportunity here about organisation, about how we support people
01:18and the inclusivity of that.
01:20Absolutely, everybody who is in service who is wanting to go for promotion should be on an equal footing for that
01:26and nobody should be excluded from getting that support and assistance.
01:31Is there an issue with staff networks being allowed to operate within services like the PS&I
01:38where you have groups divided up based on various identities?
01:43Is there a problem with the PS&I's diversity unit funding some of those groups?
01:48If people want to have staff networks, should they be entirely independent of the police?
01:53There are three statutory staff associations for officers which is ourselves, the Federation,
01:59the Superintendent of Police, Sammy and the Chief Officers.
02:04They are created by statute.
02:06I think the support networks form an important assistance to the stuff that we do
02:13and sometimes they can be more specialised particularly in the autism network and what they do.
02:19I see them as an important part but equally they have to play by the roles that everyone else has to play with as well.
02:28Absolutely they can do things to support the people within their particular networks
02:33and what they want to achieve but ultimately it shouldn't be the exclusion of everyone else.
02:38Just a final question on this but isn't the issue specifically around the LGBT network
02:44that this is an organisation that adopts certain positions which are widely regarded as political
02:51and pretty contentious issues of the day particularly around transgender issues
02:55and to have an organisation like that within the police is about much more than supporting staff
03:02in their jobs, it's actually about promoting an ideology.
03:07The difficulty that I have with that is certainly as police officers we are bound by a code of ethics
03:15and ultimately the organisation in itself is more important than any individual or any individual group with what it is.
03:26I can see why detractors would maybe focus on some of the more controversial elements of some of the things that some of the groups do
03:36but again there's even contention within the groups themselves around some of the matters that are being aired.
03:42I think they bring something to policing and I think they bring something to us as a staff association
03:51and helping us to understand and explain some of the issues that they may or may not have
03:56either in the workplace or outside of the workplace.