Alex Easton has called for the Justice Minister to do more to get the funding to recruit more PSNI officers and make it a priority political agenda.
Speaking today he said:
“I firmly believe that the fight against crime should be at the top of the political agenda. The fear and consequences of crime and Anti Social behaviour destroy the lives of many people in Northern Ireland. Indeed many of the most vulnerable groups in society suffer from the fear, as well as the reality, of crime. We cannot afford to sit back and allow the rising tide of crime and lawlessness to engulf society and leave people fearful in their homes. The battle against crime is a battle that we cannot afford to lose.
It has been demonstrated elsewhere in the world that ever rising rates of crime are not inevitable and, with the right action, can be effectively dealt with. It is not, however an easy challenge to meet. There are no simple answers and no guaranties of success. It will be won by the authorities alone, but by society coming together to stamp it out. It is why I am calling for the recruitment of the extra 500 police officers to made a priority it has not been made a priority and has been dragging on for far too long with everyone complaining there is not enough police on the ground we need a full complement of PSNI to deal with overall crime and Anti Social behaviour.
The criminal justice system in Northern Ireland needs both the power to deal with crime and a willingness to do so; ultimately we want to see a society which is free from the fear of crime, one of the easy is to have a full complement of PSNI officers and the Justice Minister is simply not doing enough to get the resources to do this and it is her responsibility to ensure the resources are in place so stop making excuses and blaming everyone else and deliver what has been promised.
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