Officers ‘must remain vigilant’ as terrorism threat level is reduced, says PFNI

The reduced Northern Ireland Related Terrorism threat level by MI5 means an attack by terrorists moves from ‘highly’ likely to ‘likely’.

PFNI chair Liam Kelly said: “This revised assessment is welcome news, but it doesn’t mean our officers can relax their guard. We still have terrorists who want to murder officers and, although there have been significant inroads made against them, they remain a danger to our officers.

“We are moving in the right direction. That said, Northern Ireland is a long way from achieving a moderate or low threat level. Officers must remain vigilant and exercise great care both on and off duty. They continue to be identified and targeted and only by exercising prudent security precautions, coupled with counter-terrorism actions, will they be prevented from causing heartache and misery.

“There will be no relaxation in the work to degrade terrorist and organised crime gangs.”

Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said the public will not see “an immediate change in how we deliver policing”.

“The threat level has been reduced from severe to substantial by MI5, following a regular review,” said Mr Boutcher. “The independent assessment means the threat has moved from an attack is ‘highly likely’ to an attack is ‘likely’.

“I welcome this reduction and its significance for our communities, for police officers and staff and our partners. It is testament to all of our collective long-term efforts, in particular the community, in achieving the kind of society that we all want and deserve.

“Over recent years we have successfully prevented attacks and investigated and pursued groups, such as the New IRA, who don’t care about placing our communities at significant risk through their reckless attempts to kill police officers.

“It is sad that there is still a small group of people within our society who are intent on causing harm and dragging Northern Ireland back to the past. No one wants this and we will continue to pursue anyone involved and bring them before the courts in order to make our communities safer.

“It’s just over one year since the cowardly attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell. Our officers will continue to relentlessly pursue those responsible for this most vicious act, seeking to bring all who have played any part before the courts.

“Following the reduction in the threat level the public won’t see an immediate change in how we deliver policing and our priority will remain the same, to deliver a visible, accessible and responsive community focused policing service to keep people safe.”