SIR HUGH Orde, in announcing that he is stepping down as chief constable of the PSNI later this year, predicted that a senior officer, possibly a serving chief constable at a force in Britain, would be appointed to replace him.
Sir Hugh, who narrowly missed out in the competition to take over as commissioner of London Metropolitan Police, was elected on Wednesday night as president of the British Association of Chief Police Officers, the representative body for chief police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
He is to remain as chief constable during the marching season and is expected to hand over to a new chief in September. Sir Hugh acknowledged that in the face of the threat from dissident republicans, he is stepping down at the “most challenging time” since he was appointed chief constable in 2002.
He is preparing for his exit shortly after dissident republicans murdered two British soldiers and a PSNI officer, and carried out so-called punishment shootings, bomb hoaxes, disruption and other attacks.
Referring to the dissidents, he indicated his belief that they would not succeed because they did not have sufficient community support. He said just 30 people in Rosslea, Co Fermanagh, and 150 in Derry attended their Easter commemorations.
“If that is the best they can manage then I think policing and the communities have come a huge way,” he said.
Sir Hugh described his time in Northern Ireland as a “rough and challenging ride”, during which great progress was achieved in policing and politics.
During his term most of the Patten policing reforms were implemented.
Most significantly, two years ago, Sinn Féin decided to join the policing board and support the PSNI, a decision that heralded the formation of the powersharing Northern Executive led by the DUP and Sinn Féin.
Asked why he was leaving now, he said: “I have been here for nearly seven years. I said I would come for five. There is never a good time to go, and frankly I’ve got mixed emotions about going. This is a great organisation to lead and it has done outstandingly well. But I think the time has come – fresh eyes look at things differently – and I would say we need to move in a slightly different direction.”
Under current regulations it appears that senior Garda officers are ineligible to apply for the chief constable position, as none would have completed the strategic command course at Bramshill training college in England, which is a condition of the application.
Neither can any current PSNI officer apply, as another condition is that applicants must have served for at least two years at senior command level at a force outside Northern Ireland.
No current officer meets that condition apart from deputy chief constable Paul Leighton, who is retiring next month.
Sir Hugh said there were many highly qualified officers in Britain who he believed would apply for the post. He believed that some serving chief constables would apply for the job.
Northern secretary Shaun Woodward led many tributes to Sir Hugh. “Hugh has led the PSNI through great reform and met every challenge with great skill and leadership. It is to his immense credit the Police Service of Northern Ireland has developed into one of the most respected police services anywhere in the world,” he said.
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said Sir Hugh’s “recent leadership in helping to take the fight to dissident republican criminals has helped bring the community together in co-operating with the police on a scale never seen in some sections of the community before”.
Sinn Féin Assembly and policing board member Alex Maskey said Sir Hugh “without doubt has made a significant contribution to many of the policing changes we have been part of in recent years”.
Tributes were also paid by the SDLP, the Ulster Unionist Party, Alliance, the US administration, the Policing Board, and the PSNI’s representative body, the Police Federation.
