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Following comments from DUP Leader Gavin Robinson in an email to party members, MLA Justin McNulty has said he believes it's not unrealistic to want a police service that's representative of the community. The Newry and Armagh representative said women, people from a nationalist background and people from minority groups need to be encouraged to consider a career in policing.
Mr Robinson was commenting on the selection process for the PSNI, criticising any suggestion of a return to 50/50 Protestant/ Catholic recruitment.
Mr McNulty said: “Whether Gavin Robinson likes it or not, it is not unrealistic to want to have a police service representative of the community it serves. In the North it is clear that the PSNI falls far short of that and the only way we will address it is by encouraging more people from a nationalist background, women and minority groups to consider a career in policing.
“The DUP leader’s comments continue an increasing trend of the party’s representatives adopting the language and tactics of Donald Trump. Whether to try and obfuscate an important issue like representative policing or to try and label MLAs as sectarian simply for asking questions about a lack of transparency around school funding, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. It’s embarrassing to see politicians here desperately trying to shoehorn Trump-like rhetoric into our local politics.
“When we wonder why we struggle to establish a police service that reflects the diversity of our communities, one could look at the words and actions of many of Mr. Robinson’s party colleagues over the years. Instead of trying to turn what is an important issue into a culture war flashpoint, he should show some leadership and get to grips with the issues preventing us from having a police service that is representative of society here.”
