Challenges facing PSNI ‘significant’ as five-year Policing Plan unveiled

Jon Boutcher was speaking as the 2025-2030 Policing Plan was unveiled, which provides a framework for delivery of the policing service over the next five years and the assessment of performance.

It has been published by the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB) and PSNI and includes three strategic outcomes for policing:

• That the PSNI is victim focused;
• There are safe and engaged communities with confidence in policing; and
• The PSNI has a representative, valued and enabled workforce.

Mr Boutcher said: “This plan is the product of significant work with the Policing Board and sets out what we and the Policing Board, want to achieve in the next five years.

“This plan sets our strategic direction and how we are going to deliver a police service which is victim focused, community focused and workforce focused. These three straightforward strategic priorities have been advocated by me since my first day as chief constable.

“The challenges of policing Northern Ireland are significant. With a growing population and increasingly sophisticated criminal threat, demand for limited police resource continues to grow.

“Nevertheless, I am reassured that we have the very best people to meet this challenge head on and provide an impartial and compassionate service to all of our communities.

“I look forward to working with the Policing Board, our partners and the public in delivering the outcomes in this Policing Plan.”

Mr Boutcher said the recent His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services report reinforced his resourcing concerns.

“Inspectors have confirmed what I, along with oversight bodies, have been warning about for some time: years of underfunding have severely affected our ability to deliver essential policing services,” he said.

“Neighbourhood policing, offender management, crime prevention, and safeguarding efforts are all under strain. The consequences are real, they mean delays in risk assessments, overdue visits to registered sex offenders, and inadequate psychological support for officers handling high-risk investigations.

“Despite the immense pressures on our resources, the steadfast dedication and professionalism of my officers and staff ensures that we continue to deliver significant results for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Mr Boutcher added: “The PSNI is a hugely respected police service in the United Kingdom, on the island of Ireland and across the globe. Our human rights approach to policing is envied across the profession of policing, this policing plan will further enhance that reputation and each member of this organisation is already making a positive difference in contributing to this plan. We are proud to serve the wonderful and varied communities of Northern Ireland.”

NIPB chair Mukesh Sharma MBE DL said investment in the police service “will be critical to meeting the ambitions of this plan”.

He said: “This five-year Policing Plan focuses attention on the future, and how we want policing and policing oversight to meet the needs of the people of Northern Ireland going forward.

“We strongly believe that working to these outcomes will enable PSNI to deliver effective policing that is visible, accessible, responsive, victim focused and continually improving.

“This plan focuses on the positive changes we can make to enable PSNI to deliver the service that the public expect and deserve. The Policing Plan is an important part of delivering safer communities, but it is not the only part. We must also continue to work in partnership across all levels of society.

“Northern Ireland remains a safe place to live, but day to day demands for service are increasing, through more complex crime investigations, through the prevalence of crime carried out online, as well as dealing with increased levels of vulnerability in the community.

“This plan does not exist in a vacuum and we cannot achieve these ambitions on hope and hard work alone. We welcome the commitments given in the Programme for Government for Safer Communities and to increasing officer and staff numbers.

“Investment in the police service and indeed the wider criminal justice system, will be critical to meeting the ambitions of this plan over the course of the next five years.”

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) said the hard-hitting but realistic comments by the chief constable were “an earnest attempt to avert disaster”.

PFNI chair Liam Kelly said the warning by Mr Boutcher could leave no one in any doubt of the dire state that policing finds itself in as it deals with inadequate funding, increasing demand and declining officer numbers.

He said: “This Policing Plan signposts the way ahead for the service. In an ideal world, it makes absolute sense. The fact is we’re not in an ideal world, but one that impairs and hinders the service.

“Policing is at the edge of the precipice. And when Mr Boutcher warns that the lack of financial support will significantly worsen the position unless a sustainable fiscal plan is put in place, he should be listened to.

“This Federation agrees with the chief constable when he says that without a substantial baseline uplift, numbers will remain at an unacceptable and dangerously low level, and the service will not be able to keep people safe in the way that we would want.

“These are hard-hitting but realistic comments. I regard them as a clarion call for urgent action and an earnest attempt to avert disaster in policing.

“We must halt this sleep-walking by ministers who should ultimately be held to account for failing to protect and safeguard people and communities. They must urgently reverse this dangerous slide and face facts.

“If they don’t give my colleagues the finances and resources to do the job, then further worrying deterioration will be inevitable.”

The Plan was agreed following public consultation and is published alongside the first Annual Performance Plan, a one-year document which supports the evaluation of the delivery of the Policing Plan using set indicators, measures and impacts.