Probe after PSNI ‘mistakenly’ patrol in Republic
QUESTIONS are set to be asked today at the Policing Board as to why PSNI officers were allowed to mount a checkpoint in the Republic when the “dissident republican threat is at an all-time high”.
Policing Board member Jimmy Spratt last night said the incident showed “terrible and appalling misjudgment”.
Mr Spratt, a former Police Federation Chairman, said “serious questions” will now have to be asked of the officers’ supervisors.
Last night the PSNI admitted its officers patrolled and mounted a checkpoint in the Republic last week and confirmed an investigation into the incident was under way.
“We can confirm that on Monday morning, March 22, police officers who were unfamiliar with the area strayed across the Fermanagh/Donegal border at Belleek and stopped vehicles for a short time.
“When the situation was pointed out to them by local people, they immediately withdrew.”
Mr Spratt said: “This is a big issue, not about the police officers, but about their first and second line supervisors’ terrible and appalling misjudgment.
“This raises a very serious question about the senior management team about how they brief and detail officers.
“This also raised a serious issue about security at a time when we are being told the dissident republican threat has never been higher in that area – and in that area we have police running around.
“We need to know exactly what happened here.”
