Communities in Northern Ireland are critical to the provision of effective policing services. Proactive engagement sits at the centre of our ambition for the Police Service to represent a visible, accessible, responsive and community-focused Service.
The Service launched the ‘Here for You’ Public Engagement Vision in 2022 which is used by the Senior Team, District Commanders and our Neighbourhood Policing Teams as a framework for the planning of community engagement activities.
‘Here for You’ highlights the importance of two-way dialogue with communities to help improve mutual understanding through the use of Reference, Engagement and Listening (REaL) events.
The Service’s Strategic Community Engagement Team has been developing our approach to REaL events with a focus on connecting with communities to obtain feedback which can be used to inform PSNI policies, procedures and problem solving. They aim to provide the Service with a mechanism through which to listen to challenge from the communities we serve and respond to concerns in order to help build trust and confidence.
This work directly contributes to the three outcomes contained in the Northern Ireland Policing Plan 2020-2025 around ‘We have a Safe Community, We have Confidence in Policing and We have Engaged and Supportive Communities’.
The Service has held a number of Strategic Level REaL events with communities across Northern Ireland since February 2023. A summary note of these meetings can be viewed below:
Protestant Unionist Loyalist – March 2023
Catholic Nationalist Republican – August 2023
Ethnic Minorities – September 2023
Protestant Unionist Loyalist Feb - 2024
Ethnic Minorities - March 2024
Further briefings will be published on this webpage as they become available. To find out more about REaL events get in touch with the Strategic Community Engagement Team on [email protected] or contact your Local Neighbourhood Policing Team to discuss a REaL event in your area.