Latest news with #policingreform
The Guardian
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Robin Masefield obituary
My colleague Robin Masefield, who has died aged 73 of pancreatic cancer, was the director general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service from 2004 to 2010. His 40-year career in public service was largely focused on Northern Ireland, where he led policing reform, and the creation of a statutory framework for parades. He was the first graduate recruited into the newly established Northern Ireland Office in 1973, from where his strong connection to the island of Ireland began. By 1983, he had spent several years abroad working for the Hong Kong government, where he helped draft the first green paper on widening local government representation. A subsequent role in the Home Office in the mid-1980s introduced Robin to prisons and criminal justice reform. Having returned to work in the Northern Ireland Office in 1985, Robin was asked to lead the secretariat supporting an independent panel reviewing arrangements for parades and marches in Northern Ireland, during a period of unrest and violence in the mid-90s. The North Report, published in 1997, and written largely by Robin in just three months, led to the establishment of the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland. It was unsurprising, following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, that Robin was subsequently asked to lead the team responsible for implementing the controversial reforms to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, recommended by the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, chaired by Chris Patten, in 1999. His attention to detail was crucial as every aspect of policing reform and legislation in parliament was under scrutiny from both unionist and nationalist politicians. Robin's final post was as director general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, where he led the organisation through changes in the run-up to the devolution of criminal justice and policing in Northern Ireland in 2010. He helped to change the Prison Service from a security focus to one that promoted prisoners' rehabilitation instead. Born in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, Robin was the son of Geoffrey Masefield, a lecturer specialising in tropical agriculture at Oxford University, and Joy (nee Rogers), who was a theatrical producer. Robin was educated at Marlborough college in Wiltshire before studying social anthropology at St John's College, Cambridge. Retiring from public service at the end of 2010, he resumed his interest in historical research and writing books, including a lengthy study of the contribution of Irish people engaged in public administration in east Asia during the 19th century. He was active in his local community of Helen's Bay, County Down, dedicating much time to improving the environment with guerrilla gardening; he was also a school governor and on the board of Oxfam Ireland for many years. Robin will be remembered for his contributions to public service, for which he was appointed CBE in 2003, and his work in support of the peace process in Northern Ireland, He met Rosemary Drew when working in Belfast and they married in Hong Kong in 1981. Rosemary survives him, along with his three children, Anna, Sarah and Johnny.
CBS News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Mixed emotions, teachable moments mark the anniversary of George Floyd's murder
A return to George Floyd square brings back a flood of emotions for Ingrid Kubisa. "A a lot of tears, a lot of memories," said Kubisa, from Minneapolis. "It's so heavy." That heaviness was palpable at Floyd's memorial Sunday, as visitors held back tears, while others took a quiet moment to reflect and pray. "It's very powerful, very uplifting," said Emmett Dealy from Minneapolis. May 25th and the days that followed, marked tough conversations between then 10-year-old Dealy, and his father, Matt. "We were sitting on the couch watching the news, and my 10-year-old son comes into the room, and was watching the news with us," said Matt Dealy. "All of a sudden he's like 'why was that cop killing that man?'" Demetrius Smith planned a trip from Dallas just to be here for the first time Sunday. It's a teaching moment and history lesson, for Smith's six-year-old granddaughter. "I think it's unfortunate that you even have to explain it to them," said Smith. "I think it's important that they understand what's happened in the past, what still is happening currently, and also understand that they are responsible for their decisions and it doesn't have to be the way that it always has been." While some paying respects on Sunday acknowlege progress has been made, targeting things like racism in policing, many said that work is far from finished. "We can have events like this and it's great, and we can get more awareness, that's great, more and more awareness obviously, but there's still way too much inequity, way too much injustice, way too many people still dying at the hands of police," said Matt Dealy.
