David McConaghie and Bob McEvoy of the Caleb Foundation accompanied by Callum Webster of the Christian Institute met with two senior officers of the PSNI on Thursday 13th April 2006.

In the light of a parliamentary answer given to Mr David Simpson MP, stating that no figures were available for 'gay-on-gay' violence in Northern Ireland, Caleb had formally requested that such figures be collated and published. While maintaining that it is impossible to collate these figures, the PSNI representatives eventually said that they do actually collate figures for 'cohabiting same-sex' domestic violence, but that these figures do not appear on the Chief Constable's Annual Report. Caleb requested that the figures be made available to us for analysis. The PSNI representatives said that they could not produce figures for 'gay-on-gay' violence outside 'domestic' arrangements, as they were not permitted under legislation to ask a complainant or perpetrator for their sexual orientation.

They also pointed out that due to legislation introduced after the Stephen Lawrence enquiry, any incident can be recorded as 'homophobic' if the victim or ANYONE ELSE PERCEIVES IT TO BE SO! The Caleb Council is extremely concerned about this and will pursue this matter further after the relevant figures have been analysed. We may have to seek a meeting with the Policing Board and with the Police Ombudsman.

When is a Policeman NOT a Policeman?

The answer is – Never! One of the issues that arose out of the above meeting was that a Policeman is NEVER OFF DUTY! David McConaghie asked for a comment about the Report on Policing and Homosexuality, issued on behalf of the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, which states, Clear disciplinary procedures must not only be in place, but be seen to be implemented, where homophobic attitudes are demonstrated by PSNI officers of all ranks. David teased out a potential area of danger. “What if a policeman was, in his spare time, a lay preacher, and in the pulpit was presenting an exegesis of Romans 1, where the Scriptures clearly teach that homosexuality is an abominable sin. In stating that position, would that then constitute a ‘homophobic attitude’ and would that officer be liable to disciplinary action?” In the course of their answer, the representatives of the PSNI confirmed that a police officer is NEVER off duty, and that if a member of the public reported his remarks from the pulpit as being a ‘homophobic incident’ it would be recorded as such! The officer would then be informed that this incident had been so recorded. Presumably he would then be subject to police discipline!

 CHRISTIAN POLICE OFFICERS – be aware what is happening!

The Police Federation needs to be active in protecting its members!