PSNI officers’ confidence in intelligence systems ‘shaken by Caldwell shooting’

The confidence of rank and file officers in the PSNI’s intelligence-gathering operations was shaken by the attempted murder of a senior detective, the chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has said.

Liam Kelly told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that some officers were questioning intelligence briefings about their own safety after the gun attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was “not picked up”.

Mr Caldwell was shot a number of times in front of his son by dissident republicans at a sports complex in Omagh, Co Tyrone, in February.

The detective, who had investigated a number of high-profile murder cases, spent several weeks in intensive care.

Mr Kelly was answering questions from MPs about the impact on officers following a major PSNI data breach in August, when the personal details of almost 9,500 staff members were mistakenly released online.

Police later confirmed the details are in the hands of dissident republicans.

He said: “One of the other unintended consequences about officer impact and officer confidence is their confidence in the intelligence system.

“That was shaken originally this year by the abhorrent attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell.

“That really detailed, pre-planned operation was not picked up whatsoever either by our internal intelligence or external intelligence services.”

He told MPs that there was a perception that the organisation’s traffic light threat assessment system is “not a reality”.

He said some officers were raising questions about their own security assessments because the intelligence system “got it so wrong” in the Caldwell case.

Mr Kelly said: “That is why we see people are taking extraordinary lengths… because they are not confident in the intelligence assessment the PSNI has given them is going to actually protect them in the long term.

“Now this genie is out of the bottle the consequences of this going forward will have ramifications for years to come.”