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for PSNI and it’s therefore vital that I generate that thinking time. There are times when
I need to leave the operational matters to my senior colleagues – sometimes that’s
challenging for me and my senior colleagues because I like to be involved (the ACC’s
would probably describe that as me ‘dabbling’!!)
If I had one objective during my time as Chief Constable, it would be to complete
the transformation of policing in accordance with the Patten reforms. Don’t get me
wrong, the culture and focus of the organisation in the past were necessary in the
circumstances, and I did have some personal challenges with some of the Patten
recommendations such as the name change and the symbols. However, those changes
were the right ones to make and it was necessary for us to move from a police
force to a police service. I still think there’s some work for us to complete in this
regard. Providing a service to the whole community is the foundation which Patten
espoused and I bought into it at the time … and still do. We need to be accountable
to the community and I believe we still have some way to go to convince the entire
community how good we are as a public service.
Q. We often ask people if they were Chief Constable for a day what they would do.
I’d like to ask something a bit different … If you were a Constable or an SEA for a day,
what would you do?
Only when you get to a very senior position do you realise the importance of what
front line people do every day. Matt Baggott, my predecessor and a man I hold in the
highest regard, used to talk about the “strategic importance of the routine” like the day
to day engagements which take place. We can never underestimate these individual
encounters and the impact they can have both in a positive and negative way. I don’t
think I appreciated that as a Constable and I would encourage front line officers and
staff to bear this in mind as they engage with the public.
Q. I know you’re a born again Christian. Tell us a little about your journey to faith.
As a child there was a point when I became a Christian; however I like to talk about my
journey ‘in’ faith because while a turning point and a decision is important it is amazing
to me that God works in our lives to develop a relationship with him. When I joined the
police at 18, I had to decide whether my faith was going to have an impact on my life,
or whether it was just going to be about going to church. Don’t get me wrong, going
to church is important, but I decided that I wanted a daily relationship and therefore
chose to allow my faith and my beliefs to influence my family, my friends shape my
values and my behaviour and even the way I do my job. I think many people have a
similar two stage experience in the journey of life.
Whilst I don’t force my Christian opinions on others whom I meet every day, I like
to think that every day I use my Christian anchor points to positively influence my
decisions and actions.
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The Chief Constable will continue telling us about his faith and
career in the next edition of Checkpoint.