“Jon Boutcher said: “I am the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and my role is to deliver an effective policing service for all communities in Northern Ireland. This must be delivered with operational independence having regard to my Accounting Officer obligations of which I am very well aware.
“It is important to highlight that I have a number of statutory responsibilities, not least those set out in Section 32 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 which requires me and my officers;
- to protect life and property
- to preserve order
- to prevent the commission of offences
- where an offence has been committed, to take measures to bring the offender to justice.
“In seeking to discharge my duties I have been highlighting the critical issue of PSNI funding and the significant under resourcing and I have been doing this since I became Chief Constable last October.
“I have and will continue to work with all stakeholders involved in the difficult challenges of police funding including, the Northern Ireland Executive, First Minster, Deputy First Minister, Justice Minister and Westminster to ensure the Police Service of Northern Ireland has the funding necessary to deliver the policing the people of Northern Ireland are entitled to while at the same time providing for the health and wellbeing of our police officers and police staff. I am sure we are all committed to this endeavour.”