Latest news with #MarieAnderson
The Independent
02-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Ombudsman has received 40 complains of ‘police predatory behaviour'
Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman has received 40 reports alleging 'police predatory behaviour', Stormont has heard. Justice Minister Naomi Long said the Ombudsman Marie Anderson's office receive around eight such complaints a year, and has not indicated that the number is increasing, but that there is a 'steady flow'. Ms Long was speaking during Assembly Questions for her department. Sinn Fein MLA Danny Baker put to her that a recent Criminal Justice Inspection report noted that as of July 2024, the Police Ombudsman's Office had 19 active investigations of abuse of position for sexual purposes. He asked whether the minister intended to introduce a 'more comprehensive vetting process and a code of conduct'. Ms Long pointed out that the employment of police officers and vetting is not a matter for her department. She said: 'However when you look to this report, abuse of position, concerns and complaints, there are recommendations on how justice organisations should address matters and the timeframes within which they should do so. 'The PSNI, Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland and Public Prosecution Service all have responsibilities in addressing the abuse of position that referenced. 'Given that those organisations are operationally independent from me as justice minister and my department, I can't comment on progress of the recommendations, however I do agree that it is important that robust and effective processes are in place to ensure accountability and safe guarding. 'Given the vulnerability of some of the people in contact with police, it is important that we have absolute confidence that those individuals involved in that unethical behaviour do not draw other ethical officers into disrepute.' Asked by Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers for the number of cases of abuse of position for sexual purposes that have been investigated in the last 12 months, compared to the previous 12 months, Ms Long said she would not have access to that information directly. 'However since 2021, PONI has advised me that they have received around 40 complaints of what they described as police predatory behaviour, and say that they continue to receive an average of eight cases per year,' she said 'So they have not suggested that that has significantly increased but there has certainly been a steady flow.'
BreakingNews.ie
02-06-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
NI Ombudsman has received 40 complains of ‘police predatory behaviour'
Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman has received 40 reports alleging 'police predatory behaviour', Stormont has heard. NI Justice Minister Naomi Long said the Ombudsman Marie Anderson's office receive around eight such complaints a year, and has not indicated that the number is increasing, but that there is a 'steady flow'. Advertisement Ms Long was speaking during Assembly Questions for her department. Sinn Féin MLA Danny Baker put to her that a recent Criminal Justice Inspection report noted that as of July 2024, the Police Ombudsman's Office had 19 active investigations of abuse of position for sexual purposes. He asked whether the minister intended to introduce a 'more comprehensive vetting process and a code of conduct'. Ms Long pointed out that the employment of police officers and vetting is not a matter for her department. Advertisement She said: 'However when you look to this report, abuse of position, concerns and complaints, there are recommendations on how justice organisations should address matters and the timeframes within which they should do so. 'The PSNI, Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland and Public Prosecution Service all have responsibilities in addressing the abuse of position that referenced. 'Given that those organisations are operationally independent from me as justice minister and my department, I can't comment on progress of the recommendations, however I do agree that it is important that robust and effective processes are in place to ensure accountability and safe guarding. 'Given the vulnerability of some of the people in contact with police, it is important that we have absolute confidence that those individuals involved in that unethical behaviour do not draw other ethical officers into disrepute.' Advertisement Asked by Ulster Unionist MLA Alan Chambers for the number of cases of abuse of position for sexual purposes that have been investigated in the last 12 months, compared to the previous 12 months, Ms Long said she would not have access to that information directly. 'However since 2021, PONI has advised me that they have received around 40 complaints of what they described as police predatory behaviour, and say that they continue to receive an average of eight cases per year,' she said 'So they have not suggested that that has significantly increased but there has certainly been a steady flow.'
Business Wire
29-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
ISN ® Celebrates RAVS 360™ Assessments Milestone
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ISN, the global leader in contractor and supplier information management services, celebrates completing more than 2,500 RAVS 360 assessments this year. RAVS 360 aids contractor customers in identifying gaps in safety culture, worker training, and health, safety, and environmental (HSE) policies, and provides actionable items to help improve safety on jobsites. This milestone follows 10 years of identifying opportunities in contractor HSE training and policies through ISN's historical program, RAVS Plus ®. 'ISN's completion of more than 2,500 RAVS 360 assessments this year is a testament to our dedication to continue to help improve employee knowledge and safe work practices onsite.' 'We saw immediate value in the RAVS 360 assessment and appreciated the help ISN provided in reviewing our HSE program. We look forward to seeing how the assessment helps improve the safety culture of our company moving forward,' said Anna Loving, Business Operations Manager at Cypress Engine Accessories. Building on the foundation of more than 20,000 RAVS Plus assessments, RAVS 360 elevates contractor HSE assessments by engaging front-line workers to demonstrate knowledge over HSE programs and provide feedback on company safety culture. RAVS 360 supports a more robust due-diligence process, including improved worker participation and the ability to address employee-level knowledge gaps through ISNetworld's Learning Management System (LMS) of industry-leading trainings. Hiring Clients can also view results of the assessment and track contractor progress on open items within ISNetworld. By expanding worker-level evaluations to include both policy knowledge and company culture perception, RAVS 360 facilitates an important conversation using a human centered approach that encourages collective responsibility among all employees in an organization. Regardless of company size, participation highlights opportunities for organizations to strengthen hazard recognition and employee empowerment while raising the bar in the development and deployment of safety management systems and use of safety technology. 'In addition to the worker evaluation and management interview, RAVS 360 is intended to help reduce the likelihood of a SIF with the addition of an evaluation of employees' safety culture perceptions, AI-driven work type suggestions to support contractor selection of the best-fit work scope and related hazard documentation, and delivery of complimentary, mobile-friendly trainings to help close safety gaps,' said Marie Anderson, Chief Customer Success Officer and Head of RAVS at ISN. 'ISN's completion of more than 2,500 RAVS 360 assessments this year is a testament to our dedication to continue to help improve employee knowledge and safe work practices onsite.' For more information on ISN's industry-leading software and services, visit About ISN ISN is the global leader in contractor and supplier information management, with more than 20 years of experience connecting 850 Hiring Clients in capital-intensive industries with 85,000 active contractors and suppliers to promote safety, health, and sustainability in the workplace. ISN's brands include ISNetworld ®, a global online contractor and supplier management platform, Transparency-One ®, a responsible sourcing platform built to bring transparency to supply chain management, and Empower ®, a worker-level app built to keep workers moving forward. ISN has 14 offices around the globe which provide award-winning support and training for its customers in more than 85 countries. ISN takes pride in leading worldwide efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of contractor and supplier management systems and in serving as a world-class forum for sharing industry best practices, benchmarking performance, providing data insights among its members, and helping decision makers, including board members, ensure contractor and supplier risk is assessed and monitored. For more information, visit
BreakingNews.ie
28-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Investigation into loyalist murder of Peter Gallagher ‘wholly inadequate'
The investigation into the murder by loyalists of a man in Belfast in 1993 was 'wholly inadequate', the North's Police Ombudsman has found. Peter Gallagher (44), a father-of-seven from Toomebridge, Co Antrim, was shot and fatally wounded by a loyalist gunman as he arrived for work at the Westlink Enterprise Centre in west Belfast shortly before 8am on March 24th. Advertisement The UFF admitted responsibility in a call to BBC. No one has been convicted in relation to the murder of Mr Gallagher. Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson outside her office in Belfast. Photo: PA Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson said her office found that there had been 12 people who should have been of interest to the murder investigation, but none were arrested. She said some of those were linked by significant, and on occasion corroborative, intelligence and other information. Advertisement She also criticised the police decision to 'cease surveillance of members of the UDA/UFF two days before the murder, given that they had received multiple intelligence and other reports indicating that the group were actively planning attacks'. It was found that surveillance of the Shankill-road based C Company of the UDA/UFF was paused on March 22nd, with resources reallocated in response to intelligence about Provisional IRA activity. Both Mr Gallagher and 17-year-old Damien Walsh were killed before surveillance resumed on March 30th. However, the Police Ombudsman probe found no intelligence that, if acted upon by police, could have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder, and neither was there any evidence that security forces provided information to paramilitaries to facilitate the attack. Advertisement Mrs Anderson found the initial police response to Mr Gallagher's murder had been appropriate and comprehensive in nature, with a pistol found near the scene and more than 50 statements obtained. However, she said it was difficult to understand why potential persons of interest were not arrested. Mrs Anderson noted that the investigation of complaints about historical matters is challenging due to the passage of time and unavailability of relevant witnesses and documentation. However, she said her investigators had 'gathered substantial evidence and other information during the course of this investigation' and said she was grateful for the co-operation of a number of former police officers who had assisted her inquiries. Advertisement 'I believe Mr Gallagher was the innocent victim of a campaign of terror mounted by loyalist paramilitaries against the nationalist community,' she said. 'The UDA/UFF alone were responsible for Mr Gallagher's murder. 'I conclude, however, that the family were failed by a wholly inadequate murder inquiry and in particular the failure to link the murder of Damien Walsh to that of their loved one.' The victims group Relatives for Justice (RFJ) welcomed the ombudsman's report. Advertisement 'We are privileged to have supported the Gallagher family in this long and challenging journey for truth and accountability,' they said. 'While the report sheds some light on the circumstances surrounding Peter's murder, it also highlights the scale and depth of state failure. 'What emerges is not closure, but a compelling argument for a full, independent, and human rights-compliant investigation, which the state has so far failed to deliver. 'That this report may be among the last to emerge under the Police Ombudsman's now-dismantled powers is a sobering thought. The Legacy Act has shut down future investigations, closed hundreds of similar cases, and sent a clear message to families: the truth will not be tolerated. Ireland Crowd backs calls for public inquiry into 1997 mur... Read More 'The Gallagher family's long campaign reflects the experience of so many across the North – families failed not just once by the violence that took their loved ones, but again and again by the state's refusal to investigate and to tell the truth. 'RFJ stands with the Gallagher family and all families who continue to fight for justice. 'This report is not the end. It must be the basis for further action which the family will now actively consider.'
BreakingNews.ie
29-04-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Key findings in Police Ombudsman's probe into Kingsmill Massacre investigation
Here are some of the key findings Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson's examination of the RUC's handling of the Kingsmill Massacre investigation. The ombudsman detailed several instances of police planning to arrest suspects but not following through. Advertisement She also expressed concern over a failure to arrest a number of individuals who had been linked to the attack in information received by the RUC in late 1976 which named 11 suspects. The bullet riddled minibus near Whitecross in South Armagh where 10 Protestant workmen were shot dead by IRA terrorists. Photo: PA. 'The unexplained failure to exploit the evidential opportunities that may have been offered by the prompt arrest and interview of these individuals undermined the potential development of further lines of inquiry,' she said. More than 150 ballistic exhibits were recovered from the scene of the murders, with police establishing that 11 weapons were used by the gunmen. These weapons were linked to a series of attacks carried out by republican paramilitaries both before and after Kingsmill, but the ombudsman found no evidence of police utilising those linkages in the investigation. Advertisement A hijacked minibus used by the attackers was found abandoned across the border in Dundalk following the shooting. The ombudsman said gardaí recovered nine exhibits from the minibus however only five of those samples were subsequently submitted for examination by the RUC. She found no explanation for that. Ms Anderson said there were no records showing the outcome of those forensic tests and the samples cannot be traced. Advertisement The ombudsman also highlighted several failures in linking a palm print found on the getaway vehicle to a suspect. 'I believe the original police investigation failed to properly consider the value of the palm print from the minibus which was probably used to facilitate the movement of the killers before and after the Kingsmill attack,' she said. Police ombudsman for Northern Ireland Marie Anderson outside her office in Belfast. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA. The ombudsman questioned why a threatening call made a week prior to the attack to two workers employed in the same mill as the victims was not further investigated by police. Ms Anderson also identified gaps in witness inquiries by the RUC officers at the time and raised concerns that several documents related to the investigation have gone missing in the decades since. Advertisement The ombudsman's probe found no intelligence that could have forewarned police of the Kingsmill attack or allowed officers to prevent it and did not identify any intelligence that indicated a direct threat to any of the victims. She said following the attack, police received specific intelligence identifying named individuals and their roles in the attack, indicating that the shooting had been planned some weeks before it took place. Ms Anderson said that contradicted a widely held view that the attack was a 'spontaneous response' to the murders of several members of two Catholic families in the area on the day before. In assessing the evidence available to police, the ombudsman added: 'My investigation has not seen any evidence that was available to the investigation team which would have led to the conviction of any person for the offences of murder and attempted murder.' Advertisement Ms Anderson stressed that she had no remit to investigate the conduct of military personnel in the area at the time. However, she did find there was no evidence that soldiers were intentionally kept away from the area, or instructed to avoid it, on the night of the attack. She said there was also no evidence of any covert police or military operations ongoing at the time.
