Big picture policing and justice
Barry Gilligan talks through his priorities for law and order with agendaNi as he takes up the Policing Board chair.
As he starts to lead Northern Ireland’s police oversight body, Barry Gilligan is drawing on his business career, both from personal experience and the name of his property development firm.
“My own company, in development, is called Big Picture,” he explains. “The reason it’s called Big Picture is we look at the bigger picture. Development is not just about building; it’s about looking at the impact a development has on a community and the wider environment.
“And I’d like to bring that ethos to policing and the wider criminal justice system – looking at the big picture and making sure that both work well together in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.”
A chartered accountant by background, he is keen that the board ensures an efficient and effective policing service, as its mission statement suggests, and advocates the benefits of joined-up thinking within the overall system.
Gilligan was a founding member of the Policing Board in November 2001 but when the idea of applying was first suggested to him, his response was “You gotta be kidding. Why would I want to do that?” Afterwards, he thought that was the easy answer, changed his mind and sent in his application.
“The reason that I decided to put my name forward was that I believed that first of all, policing is of huge importance to any society and that every member of society should play their part in it,” he continues. “And I felt that coming from the business and coming from the Catholic community, that probably they hadn’t played their full part in policing so it was time to make that move.”
The PSNI is a recognised leader in public order policing and has been commended for meeting high human rights standards. A few days before the interview, he had welcomed Iraqis from Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, who had come to learn about policing in Northern Ireland.
His time on the board has been “very rewarding” and he has no regrets about that initial choice. As Vice-Chairman since 2006, the main lesson he has learned is that policing is cross-community and is most effective when all of the community plays its part.
“Most people want to go through their lives and never want to meet a cop – not socially but on a professional basis. If you meet a cop, there’s trouble. There’s something wrong, you’ve done something wrong or there’s trouble coming to your door,” he points out.
“They don’t ever want to have to meet one but what they do want to know is that when they need one, is he or she there?
“And then from a business perspective, we want to know that we’re getting them at value for money. All taxpayers want to know that we’re getting best value from the Police Service.”
He explains that the community must have confidence in policing and the key to building this confidence is partnership working – i.e. the police working with the community and other organisations – which brings him round to the old but “absolutely true” adage that “policing’s too important to be left to the police alone”.
Improvement
Since 2001, the Police Service has undergone a major programme of change and central to this was making policing more representative of the community it seeks to serve. Eight per cent of officers were Catholic back then, compared to 26 per cent now and the PSNI is on target to meet its aim of 30 per cent by 2011.
The most recent recruitment drive saw almost 10,000 applications for 440 posts, which shows how well it is viewed as a career. Recorded crime figures show that Northern Ireland is still one of the safest places to live in the UK.
“There are still areas for improvement but I would suggest that the improvements that have been made in the delivery of policing are a template for other public sector areas in Northern Ireland and that, in no small part, is down to the performance of this board.”
Specific improvements include putting the Policing with the Community concept into practice and driving a culture of improvement to get the best value and deliver front-line services properly.
“We want to see policemen on the street. We want to see visible policing that gives them comfort, that they’re living in a safe environment. We want to make sure that if there is a job within the Police Service that’s being done by a police officer that might be better done by a civilian, you release the police officer for front-line duties.”
For his first year in office, he has identified three priorities.
Firstly, recruiting to the top team of senior officers. A new Deputy Chief Constable was appointed by the time of going to press and a successor to Hugh Orde as Chief Constable must also be chosen. Whilst the board wants to make that appointment as quickly as it can it must make sure it makes the right decision.
The devolution of policing and justice is a second one and a move to which the board and policing has nothing to fear: “As far as we’re concerned, bring it on.” Gilligan emphasises that the new Minister’s brief will cover both policing and justice and suggests that there is “probably more to be done in the justice end of things” as the board has made “significant” progress to date.
Thirdly, drawing an imaginary graph, he points out that resources will be reduced while public expectations rise in terms of service delivery. The same tests will challenge all government services and as an accountant, he finds himself on “safe ground”.
Paying tribute to his predecessor Professor Sir Desmond Rea, Gilligan recalls how they got on with the business of policing when Stormont closed down.
A hard act to follow, Rea “worked tirelessly” to secure consensus and accord.
Community engagement will continue to be important. In late May, the board organised a meeting for Irish speakers in Derry, where they could directly address board members and senior officers. This event, he says, shows respect for their views which in turn will be shown back: “It’s really about being as inclusive as possible and casting the net for cooperation on policing as widely as possible.”
The first Catholic to chair the board, he sees more significance in the fact that he was unanimously elected by all the main political parties and the independent members.
“I’ve said many, many times that I treasure the independence of my role here and my role here is to make sure that an effective and efficient Police Service is delivered for every person in Northern Ireland.”
Profile: Barry Gilligan
Originally from Fermanagh, Barry was educated at St Michael’s College, Enniskillen. After studying economics at Queen’s University Belfast he qualified as a chartered accountant. He is married with three grown-up “expensive” children – two sons and a daughter – and enjoys a round of golf outside work.
After some time in practice and working in the construction industry, he served as Chief Executive of Ewart plc from 1990 to 2001, before setting out on his own in property investment and development.
Through Big Picture Developments, he owns and is seeking to redevelop the Crumlin Road court house.
