Naomi Long condemns Derry attacks on PSNI officers and promises tougher sentencing
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00:00Minister, two weeks ago, over the course of a weekend, nine PSNA officers were injured
00:04across the Lundair and Strabane area while dealing with crimes within our community.
00:08On Wednesday past, two further PSNA officers were assaulted while on duty. As Minister for Justice,
00:15what are you doing to support those PSNA officers who are continuing to deal with these
00:19types of assaults and threats?
00:22Well, there are a number of things. First and foremost, I have contacted the Chief Constable
00:25about the particular incidents that took place, and I have extended my support and
00:29solidarity not just to the officers who were affected, but to their families and their
00:32colleagues who have to face those kinds of situations every day. I showed great courage
00:38and fortitude in continuing with their work, even though they had been subjected to quite
00:42significant injury.
00:44The other issue is, I suppose, what I say publicly. I take every opportunity that I
00:49have to say that I do not believe that it is acceptable that we price in to a career
00:54in policing the fact that you will be assaulted by members of the public. It is not acceptable.
00:58When somebody goes out in the morning to serve our community, when they go out to keep us safe,
01:02and when they put themselves between us and harm, they have a right to expect our support,
01:08our cooperation and to be safe in doing so. That is the least that they should expect
01:12from us. There is lots of accountability with regards to police who behave badly,
01:16but there also must be accountability on members of the public who behave badly towards them.
01:22That is why I am bringing forward in the Sentencing Bill later this year additional
01:27aggravating factors around attacking someone who is delivering a public service,
01:32or is a public servant, or is delivering a service to the public. That covers quite a
01:37gamut of people who put themselves out there every day to serve the public and do not deserve
01:42to be abused, threatened or attacked for doing so. I have also had conversations with the
01:47Chief Constable on this matter. I am concerned about the impact it has on morale and recruitment.
01:53He has been very clear that, from his perspective, the days of dropping charges
02:01when someone assaults a police officer as one of those things that just happens in the system are
02:06over. When people assault a police officer, it will be treated as an assault and it should be
02:10prosecuted. I thank the Minister for her response.
02:17When health workers are attacked, rightly so, it is condemned. There should be zero tolerance.
02:20When fire service operators are attacked, again, it should be condemned. There should be zero
02:25tolerance. Unfortunately, the PS and I do not seem to receive the same respect right across the
02:29Board. Can the Minister outline, in terms of those proposals that she has around sentencing,
02:35a possible timeline for when we would like to see those types of things come forward?
02:40My hope is that the legislation will be introduced in the autumn of this year,
02:44somewhere between September and Christmas. That is the timeline that we are working to
02:48with the Justice Committee and the OLC.
02:51In terms of the wider point, I think you are absolutely right. Those who work in the justice
02:55sector are no less deserving of protections than those who work in the health sector or those who
03:00work, for example, in any other part of the public sector, where this kind of violence,
03:03intimidation, threat and abuse would not be tolerated. It should not be tolerated in the
03:08justice sector either. We are very clear, for example—we talked earlier about attacks on
03:12prison officers—that that has to be dealt with as seriously as we would treat an attack
03:18on any member of the public. We cannot simply price this into a career in the justice system.
03:22It is not acceptable. When you do that, you not only harm the individual who you have attacked,
03:27but you potentially are putting someone else at harm who is waiting for them to arrive
03:31to give them assistance. It could be a life-or-death situation that you are intervening in.
03:35People need to realise the seriousness of what they are doing, the damage to their wider community,
03:39and they need to stop.