SDLP Policing Board member Mark H Durkan has said that the long-term aim must be for PSNI officers to operate without arms.
He was speaking after a Policing Board report examined the potential for officers to eventually give up carrying guns.
Said the Foyle MLA: “The objective of an unarmed police service is one that can be shared by all.
“It is one that the SDLP endorses and the seeming misunderstanding of this recommendation by some today is unhelpful and unnecessary.
“The recommendation that the PSNI should consider this issue as part of ‘its longer-term plans’ is appropriate and follows on from the Patten Report which recommended that the use of firearms be regularly reviewed based on the current security situation.
“The PSNI, the Board and the people of Northern Ireland have responded to multiple policing challenges over the last 20 years and we can continue to do so.
“This discussion is one that will only be concluded over time, not in the short term and must be assessed in the context of terrorism, paramilitarism, other criminality and promoting best practice on policing.
“We must ensure that we do everything possible to keep both our police officers and the public safe.
“Maturity in taking forward hard issues has often been one of the ways that policing and discussions around our police service are different than in many other jurisdictions and we should be proud of the progress we have made over the last few decades.
“The challenge of moving to a routinely unarmed police service is not beyond us and is something we must revisit regularly to assess the current situation and the best way forward.”
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