22 April 2004 Edition

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One year ago...

Gerry Kelly at the Northern Kentucky Police Memorial in 2003

Gerry Kelly at the Northern Kentucky Police Memorial in 2003

It was a wonderfully sunny spring day in Covington, Kentucky on 15 March 2003, when Gerry Kelly spoke at the Northern Kentucky Police Memorial. A black marble slab, it is inscribed with the names of dozens of police officers who have fallen in the line of duty protecting the citizens of Northern Kentucky over the years. There are thousands of similar police memorials in communities all across the United States. In America, police officers are universally regarded as heroes and public servants.

At the memorial, Kelly was warmly received by Covington Mayor Butch Callery. The mayor presented him with a key to the city and a proclamation declaring March 15 "Gerry Kelly Day" in Covington. The Hibernian colour guard proudly displayed the Tricolour, the American flag and the flags of the four provinces. It was a moving ceremony.

For his part, Kelly spoke of the Good Friday Agreement's promise of a new beginning for policing in the North. While paying tribute to the fallen Kentucky policemen, Kelly described well the fundamental differences between the police services in America and in the North. He concluded by articulating a clear hope that, one day, he could be part of a police memorial service at home, laying a wreath before a marker to honour policemen who pay the ultimate price to protect the citizens of Belfast — all the citizens of Belfast.

One year later, it seems as though we may actually be further away from seeing Kelly's hope fulfiled. We can now add Cory to Stalker and Stevens as we list the messengers of collusion in the North. Even the heavily censored report of Judge Cory paints an inescapably obvious picture of something fundamentally wrong with "policing" in the North. Indeed, these defects persist to the present day, and there has been no new beginning for policing in the North.

How are these matters viewed in America? With downright disbelief. It would be hard to concoct a more egregious set of circumstances than the murder of Pat Finucane, for example. One cannot imagine a Kentucky state legislator announcing on the floor of the legislative chambers that some lawyers in Covington are getting too close to their clients. One cannot fathom Covington police officers giving personal details on one of the "offending" lawyers to individuals intent on killing the lawyer. Certainly, the police would warn a lawyer of any plot to take his life. After a cold-blooded murder in the lawyer's home, surely the police would do all in their power to bring the murderers to justice. For heavens sake, the criminal prosecution of the murderers and their accomplices would not remain sub judice for 15 years!

In Kentucky, the response to a case like Pat Finucane's murder would be swift and merciless. Good cops intent on maintaining the good name of the police force would not stand by silently while the bad cops got away with murder. The Chief of Police and other culpable supervisors would be summarily dismissed from their jobs. The lawyer's family would file civil lawsuits against the bad cops and collect damages and attorney fees. The federal Justice Department would seize control of the entire police force to prevent further outrageous abuses of citizens' civil rights. Finally, there would be root and branch systemic reform of the police force again to prevent further abuse.

If only we could transport some Kentucky justice to the North. The human rights abusers who so easily moved from the RUC to the PSNI would be quickly identified and expelled. The structure of the PSNI that permits a culture of collusion to thrive would be completely re-ordered. Most importantly, the securocrats who have co-ordinated the strategy of administrative collusion and state-sponsored killing would be given clear and immediate cause to fear the police. Kelly astutely observed in the Irish News recently that these securocrats remain utterly fearless even today as the British Government continues to display a contemptuous disregard for truth and justice when it comes to collusion.

But truth and justice are the pillars upon which any legitimate police force is founded. This is true in Kentucky, and it is true in the North of Ireland. Certainly, a new beginning to policing requires first an unbending commitment to truth and justice. Without such a commitment, there can be no real hope for a police memorial in Belfast such as the one visited and honoured by Gerry Kelly one year ago.


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