PSNI too 'heavy handed' in Strabane
The Sinn Fein chairman of Strabane District Council has accused the PSNI of adopting a "heavy handed and cavalier" approach to policing in the town.
The claims come following a weekend of unrest in the town that saw officers attacked by petrol bomb throwing youths and residents forced from their homes in a suspected dissident republican bomb alert.
On Friday night PSNI officers on patrol in the Fountain Street area were attacked by youths throwing petrol bombs and other missiles. While no one was injured, damage was caused to two police vehicles.
Sinn Fein Councillor Jarlath McNulty claimed residents of the area had been subjected to policing akin to the "worst excesses of the RUC during the 1980s and early 1990s" over recent weeks.
"People are being stopped in the street on a regular basis and thoroughly searched with some young people also being forced to remove their shoes by aggressive PSNI members.This was a well-known tactic by the RUC to attempt to humiliate people and it has no place in legitimate policing. There is no security justification whatsoever for this over the top behaviour been displayed by the PSNI."
The council chairman also accused the PSNI of dishing out "community punishment".
Meanwhile party colleague Councillor Brian McMahon expressed concern regarding the PSNI's handling of a security alert that saw residents of St. Colman's Drive evacuated from their homes on both Saturday and Sunday. It is understood police had received reports of a suspicious device being left in a car in the area.
Councillor McMahon claimed officers had displayed a " hostile approach " to residents during the operation.
"They ordered local residents to leave their homes and the area remained sealed off for most of Saturday evening.The PSNI then left the scene leaving the abandoned car behind and unattended overnight. They then returned in full force in the morning and proceeded to seal the area off again."
"This type of policing is totally unacceptable and the question has to be asked as to who has ordered it and why?"
A police spokeswoman said the onus was on the PSNI to treat all reports of suspicious objects or vehicles seriously and with caution. Senior officers would be meeting with members of the local District Policing Partnership to discuss concerns.
Police had been lawfully using their powers under terrorism legislation in the Foyle and Strabane areas in recent weeks in response to "the ongoing threat by dissident republicans," the spokesperson said.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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