Latest news with #ZoeMcKee
Sunday World
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Sunday World
24 police officers moved from domestic abuse unit to deal with riots in Ballymena
A senior PSNI officer said she 'cannot begin to describe the challenges' the force is dealing with within its public protection unit. Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee, head of public protection at the PSNI, gave evidence to MPs (UK Parliament/PA) Twenty-four police officers were removed from duties investigating sex crimes and domestic abuse to deal with recent public disorder in Northern Ireland, MPs have been told. A senior PSNI officer said she 'cannot begin to describe the challenges' the force is dealing with within its public protection unit. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee held an evidence session on ending violence against women and girls. The Stormont Executive launched its first Ending Violence Against Women and Girls strategy last year. Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee is head of the public protection team at the PSNI, which deals with sex crimes and domestic abuse. She told the committee that there are 'real challenges' for police due to the funding situation. Scores of police officers have been hurt during recent rioting in Northern Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA) She said: 'If we do not have the dedicated resources to deal with issues like this, we are going to be in this perpetual cycle and we are going to be creating our own legacy in time. 'I cannot begin to describe the challenges within public protection arena within policing currently. 'By way of example, even this week alone I have had 24 officers extracted for public disorder which actually stemmed from a violence against women and girls offence. 'That narrative has been lost in a lot of what has happened in recent weeks. 'We are facing significant under-funding challenges, a £21 million gap and we have officers at the very lowest level we have ever had in the PSNI, at 6,200 and we should be sitting at 7,500. 'They are real challenges which effect how we deliver services and support victims and prosecute offenders for all of the violence against women and girls offence types.' More than 60 police officers have been injured in disturbances that started last week after a peaceful protest over an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena and later spread to other areas. Dr Siobhan McAllister Dr Siobhan McAllister, senior lecturer in criminology Queen's University Belfast, told the committee that there is still a 'mistrust' in some communities about reporting domestic crimes to police. She said: 'We see this being passed down within families and within communities, you don't go to the police and paramilitaries within communities might know then if you go to the police. 'That still does have an impact.' DUP leader Gavin Robinson asked if delays within the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland was a barrier to female victims coming forward. Sonya McMullan Sonya McMullan, regional services Manager for Women's Aid Northern Ireland, told the committee she had been dealing with a domestic abuse victim who had waited five years for her abuser to be sentenced. She said: 'People are dropping out (of the criminal justice system), we have this issue all of the time, it doesn't instil public confidence in people going forward. 'Are you going to put your life on hold for five years? 'We have had women coming forward saying I am not going through this, I simply cannot put myself and my family through this. 'People talk about the retraumatisation going through the court process and having to relive that. 'A lot of that doesn't encourage people to come forward.' Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee, head of public protection at the PSNI, gave evidence to MPs (UK Parliament/PA) News in 90 Seconds - June 18th
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
NI riots: Officers pursuing sex crimes 'extracted' to deal with riots
Police officers tasked with investigating sex crimes and supporting victims had to be redeployed last week to deal with rioting in Northern Ireland, a senior Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer has Supt Zoe McKee told MPs that 24 officers were "extracted' from her team to deal with the public disorder which she said had stemmed from "violence" involving "a women and girls' offence".The chief superintendent said a shortfall of £21m in police funding was affecting their ability to prosecute hearing was part of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee's ongoing inquiry into violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland. "It went on for the past week, every day there was a review of resources and a surge out to support front-line policing" she the issue of a lack of police funding in prosecuting offenders, she added: "We have officer numbers at the lowest ever level at 6,200 and we should be sitting at 7,500."That leaves real challenges which affects how we deliver services, support victims and prosecute offenders."The senior officer said the majority of victims from the recent disorder were women and children, many of whom were displaced from their leader Gavin Robinson said it was a "stark reminder" of how such disorder had a material impact on the police ability to help victims of violence against women and members also heard about the scale of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland and the challenges facing policing and the justice Supt McKee said it was now an "epidemic" as she revealed that 28% of all victims of crime are domestic-abuse related and 71% of women of all ages experience harassment in public places. The committee also heard from Sonya McMullan from Women's Aid and Dr Siobhan McAlister, a criminology lecturer from Queen's University, McMullan said Stormont's new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls cannot be a "tick box" exercise and must be followed up with also said Northern Ireland is not a "victim friendly" place to go through the criminal justice system, pointing to a recent domestic violence case which took five years to complete."Women cannot afford to put their lives on hold for five years and that is why there is such a high rate of drop outs before cases are concluded," she McKee also linked a legacy of mistrust in policing to the reluctance of some victims in coming was responding to a question from SDLP leader Claire Hanna.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
PSNI officers diverted from domestic abuse and sexual crimes investigations to police Northern Ireland unrest
A total of 24 police officers were taken away from the unit which investigates domestic abuse and sexual crimes in Northern Ireland to combat last week's public disorder, a senior Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer has said. More than 30 people have been arrested by police investigating the unrest, which began in Ballymena, Co Antrim, on June 9th. A peaceful protest over the alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town was followed by attacks on the homes of people from ethnic minority backgrounds and police officers – described as 'racist thuggery' by the PSNI - and subsequently spread to other towns. Appearing before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of MPs at Westminster on Wednesday, Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee said she 'cannot begin to describe the challenges within [the] public protection arena in policing currently'. READ MORE The head of public protection at the PSNI, Ms McKee said: 'this week alone, I have had 24 officers extracted for public disorder, which actually stemmed from a violence against women and girls offence, and that narrative has been lost in a lot of what has happened in recent weeks.' [ Ballymena: Week of violent attacks on Northern Ireland's small immigrant community 'akin to 1930s Germany' Opens in new window ] The DUP leader, Gavin Robinson, responded this 'should be a cool reminder to people out there that some of the outworkings over the last week are having material impact on your ability to do your job to help protect victims'. 'To build on that,' Ms McKee said, 'what you're seeing is the displacement of minority communities, women and children being forced from their homes and crimes committed against them, probably disproportionately, women and children, as a result of the disorder that has happened'. She said the reallocation of police officers had been the case for the last week, and while it was 'slightly going back to normal, we are ready and alive to the fact that that could be ongoing at any minute, as you know it's a fairly febrile situation'. Ms McKee also outlined the 'significant underfunding challenges' facing police, saying there was a '£21 million (€24.5 million) gap and we have officers at the very lowest level we have ever had in the PSNI, at 6,200 and we should be sitting at 7,500″. 'They are very real challenges which affect how we deliver services and support victims and prosecute offenders for all of the violence against women and girls offence types,' she said. Ms McKee was one of several people who gave evidence to the scrutiny committee's session on ending violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland. The Northern Executive adopted a strategic framework on ending violence against women and girls in 2024, the last jurisdiction in the UK and Ireland to do so. Dr Siobhán McAlister, senior lecturer in Criminology at Queen's University Belfast, said survey data showed 'very high prevalence rates' in the North, 'with 98 per cent of women aged 18 plus having experienced at least one form of gender-based violence in their lives'. Such violence was 'highly underreported,' Ms McAlister said, and Ms McKee described underreporting as 'real and significant … it's a real stubborn challenge' for the PSNI. Research showed the 'main reason they don't report … is they don't recognise behaviours as violence' because they were so 'commonplace', Ms McAlister said. Sonya McMullan, regional services manager at Women's Aid NI, said 'we keep coming down to no resourcing and no money, you know, you've got a strategy, but you have no money attached to it, and it's as simple as that'.
