Main Elements of the Order
8.The Order has 13 Articles and 5 Schedules and includes provisions for:-
providing further opportunities for the Police Service of Northern Ireland to civilianise posts, by way of: extending, in line with GB, the range of powers and duties otherwise available to police officers by way of designation to Investigating Officers, Detention Officers and Escort officers; and introducing two new categories of designated civilian, namely Staff Custody Officers and Police Community Support Officers similar to that which is in force in GB;
streamlining the police trainee recruitment process to allow the Police Service of Northern Ireland to make provisional police trainee appointments, subject to the satisfactory completion of medical tests and security vetting;
changing the recruitment procedures for police support staff in line with those proposed for police trainees; and bringing forward regulations providing for the requirement that designated civilians are vetted to the same standard as police trainees;
reintroducing legislative provisions to enable the Police Service of Northern Ireland to address an acute shortage of constables with specialist skills by way of the recruitment of experienced constables with the required skills from other forces;
the Police Ombudsman to make application to the DPP to allow for the re-investigation of police officers previously acquitted of a qualifying offence where new evidence has been obtained;
the police to wholly or partly close or divert roads or prohibit or restrict the exercise of a right of way or the use of a waterway, if considered necessary for the preservation of the peace or the maintenance of public order; and
the police to examine documents and electronic records in order to establish whether or not they contain evidence that someone has committed or is preparing to commit serious crime.
