Policing has long been an issue here. The PSNI is a constant
cause of controversy for what it does and what it is accused
of not doing. Often on the defensive verbally and physically,
its lot is not an easy one. As Orangemen we have always been
committed to supporting the police in its efforts to maintain
law and order; to keep the peace in a society, it is hard
police for reasons apparent to anyone who has any knowledge
of Northern Ireland. A country, largely divided on sectarian
grounds from its beginning, has been cut through by the Troubles
and no one is unaware of the effects they have had in making
for an instability which has left us in a political impasse.
The situation has been worsened by the emergence from them
of criminality, gangsterism which has made this a place of
constant fear and torment for many of our people. There is
no need to spell out how much we are suffering from paramilitaries,
thieves and thugs, guilty of the most heinous crimes. And
the PSNI has to deal with this mix of lawlessness while trying
to prevent it, and by using means and machinery available
to it in this highly technological age. How to extricate ourselves
from the state we are in exercises the minds of politicians
and everyone else who is anxious to make this a society peaceful
and prosperous. The police, in the nature of things, is in
the foremost in the fight to bring law and order to a state
where it is sorely needed, and to people so affected by what
is happening to them that they are often dismayed, apprehensive
for the future. It is most regrettable then, that we, whose
support for the police was never in doubt have seen our Protestant
people speak and act as injured parties because of their treatment
by the PSNI. To lose their confidence would be a very serious
loss to the police for such alienation would have dire consequences
for the future well-being of the country. In a few incidents
where Orangemen were confronted by police they felt the treatment
they received was not what they expected from the lawkeepers.
Because the media has been guilty of taking sides, and for
the police, the Orangemen have been made the villains in the
often avoidable encounters. And the Institution at large has
felt angry and frustrated by what they saw and heard. As the
picture has become clearer the truth has shown that there
are two sides to most stories and in the case of the Whiterock
parade an Order's response has been published which demonstrates
that. It is to be hoped that this document will be widely
circulated so that people will be reminded that the media
does not always give us the whole truth. Meanwhile, our expectation
remains that the police will be more successful in its fight
against crime and criminality, to help make this the good
place to live for all of us irrespective of creed, colour
or race.
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