Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000

3 General functions of the Board

(1) The Board shall secure the maintenance of the police in Northern Ireland.

(2) The Board shall secure that—

(a) the police,

(b) the police support staff, and

(c) traffic wardens appointed by the Board under section 71,

are efficient and effective.

(3) In carrying out its functions under subsections (1) and (2) the Board shall—

(a) in accordance with the following provisions of this Act, hold the Chief Constable to account for the exercise of his functions and those of the police, the police support staff and traffic wardens;

(b) monitor the performance of the police in—

(i) carrying out the general duty under section 32(1);

(ii) complying with the [1998 c. 42.] Human Rights Act 1998;

(iii) carrying out the policing plan;

(c) keep itself informed as to—

(i) the workings of Part VII of the 1998 Act (police complaints and disciplinary proceedings) and trends and patterns in complaints under that Part;

(ii) the manner in which complaints from members of the public against traffic wardens are dealt with by the Chief Constable under section 71;

(iii) trends and patterns in crimes committed in Northern Ireland;

(iv) trends and patterns in recruitment to the police and the police support staff;

(v) the extent to which the membership of the police and the police support staff is representative of the community in Northern Ireland;

(d) assess—

(i) the effectiveness of measures taken to secure that the membership of the police and the police support staff is representative of that community;

(ii) the level of public satisfaction with the performance of the police and of district policing partnerships;

(iii) the effectiveness of district policing partnerships in performing their functions and, in particular, of arrangements made under Part III in obtaining the views of the public about matters concerning policing and the co-operation of the public with the police in preventing crime;

(iv) the effectiveness of the code of ethics issued under section 52;

(e) make arrangements for obtaining the co-operation of the public with the police in the prevention of crime.

(4) In carrying out its functions, the Board shall have regard to—

(a) the principle that the policing of Northern Ireland is to be conducted in an impartial manner;

(b) the policing plan;

(c) any code of practice issued by the Secretary of State under section 27; and

(d) the need—

(i) to co-ordinate its activities with those of other statutory authorities; and

(ii) to co-operate with such authorities.