Interviews under way for Northern Ireland’s new police chief

By David Young (PA)

The interview process for Northern Ireland’s next chief constable is under way in Belfast.

Interim chief constable Jon Boutcher and current assistant chief constable Bobby Singleton are vying for the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s top job.

Former PSNI chief Simon Byrne resigned in September following a string of controversies.

Mr Boutcher, who is the former police chief of Bedfordshire, was appointed as the interim head of the service pending the outcome of the interviews for the permanent £220,000 a year post.

The PSNI’s oversight body, the NI Policing Board, are conducting the two three-hour interviews at their offices in Belfast.

In normal circumstances, when a devolved government is in place in Northern Ireland, the board’s selection would have been sent to Stormont’s justice minister for final approval.

With no justice minister in place due to the ongoing powersharing impasse, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will be responsible for signing off on the appointment.

The interview panel is made up of Policing Board chair Deirdre Toner, independent board member Mukesh Sharma and three political members of the oversight body – Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly, the DUP’s Joanne Bunting and Nuala McAllister from the Alliance Party.

An external adviser from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) will be on hand to provide advice.

The first interview was scheduled to begin at 9am on Monday and the second interview is not due to end until 5pm.

At that point a multi-stage deliberation and selection process will commence.

Once the interview panel make a selection, an online meeting of the full board will be convened.

After that concludes, a full report outlining the selection and rationale behind it will be sent to Mr Heaton-Harris.

The Secretary of State is then obliged to consult with officials at Stormont’s Department of Justice before officially approving the board’s selection.

Given the various stages in the selection process, it could be Tuesday before the identity of the new chief constable is officially confirmed.

Mr Boutcher previously applied to become PSNI chief constable in 2019, but lost out to Mr Byrne.

He was until recently leading Operation Kenova, which has been investigating the activities of “Stakeknife”, the Army’s top agent in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

Mr Singleton has previously held high-profile roles within the PSNI, including leading the Paramilitary Crime Task Force before going on to head up the Legacy Investigation Branch.

Current assistant chief constable Bobby Singleton and interim chief constable Jon Boutcher are vying for the Police Service of Northern Ireland's top job (PA)