Criminal probe into officers who celebrated Armagh win

Social media footage went viral showing an officer lapping a Camlough roundabout in his patrol car

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is conducting criminal investigations into officers who joined in celebrations of Armagh’s all-Ireland GAA win, sources have told the BBC.

Three neighbourhood officers have been informed that they are being investigated for alleged driving offences, according to the sources.

The investigations follow controversy over a social media clip showing a police vehicle being driven in Camlough, County Armagh, using lights and sirens and flying an Armagh GAA flag.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has told the BBC it would be “inappropriate to provide any comment at this time” as “this matter remains subject to an internal investigation”.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland declined to comment but a spokesperson confirmed all the officers involved were receiving “advice, support, and assistance” and said “as the matter is still at the investigative stage no recommendations have been made yet for the PPS or anyone else to consider”.

What happened?

As thousands of GAA fans took to the streets to celebrate Armagh’s all-Ireland football victory, social media footage went viral showing a PSNI officer lapping a Camlough roundabout in his patrol car before stopping to pick up a flag from cheering fans which he waved out the window while driving.

The officer then performed a U-turn in the road at a junction.

Other police vehicles were seen driving through the village with emergency lights and sirens activated.

The footage was commended by some nationalist politicians as evidence of just how far community relations have come in a Republican area once considered so hostile to the authorities, it was policed from heavily reinforced watch towers and the skies.

SDLP MLA Justin McNulty said the officer’s actions were “a positive sign of the times”.

Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd said the PSNI officer who had waved an Armagh flag from a police vehicle “did more for community relations than any recruitment campaign”.

He said the officer had showed that he was “part of the community, that he was involved with his community, and that he wanted to be part of that community’s celebrations.”

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told the policing board those involved "did not act professionally or independently”

Others like Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie condemned the incident as both “naive and reckless”.

TUV leader and North Antrim MP Jim Allister said it was visible evidence that independent, impartial policing “had gone out the window” and he was reporting the incident to the police ombudsman.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he had left Chief Constable Jon Boutcher in “no doubt” of the “need to reaffirm confidence in the PSNI’s impartiality, integrity, and professional standards”.

Earlier this month the chief constable told the policing board: “Let me be crystal clear – no-one is being suspended, no-one is being sacked and no-one is being relocated.

"However, nor do I support the actions of the officers.”

“They did not act professionally or independently”.

Code of ethics

While footage of the policeman waving an Armagh flag out of his patrol car window went viral on social media, the BBC has learned that two other officers are also under criminal and misconduct investigations, alleged to have activated emergency lights and sirens on their patrol cars during the celebrations for a purpose other than their policing duties.

All three community officers are suspected of failing to respect and obeying the law, and breaching service instruction and the code of ethics.

The officers were served misconduct papers by the Professional Standards Department (PSD) and had their driving cards removed on 2 August, the day after the chief constable addressed policing board concerns about the incident.

The BBC understands that PSD will retain ownership of both the criminal and misconduct aspects of the investigations and that the three officers have been invited to take part in PACE 10 interviews for the offence of careless driving.

A file will subsequently be submitted to the PPS for their consideration.

'Feels like political policing'

One police source told the BBC: “We were all applauding the chief constable’s public display of support and common sense policing and then the next day three officers who have done a lot for community relations in a notoriously hard to reach area appeared to be ‘thrown under a bus’ in private.

"It was actually quite shocking. We expected them to get reprimanded for their behaviour but this is extremely harsh.

"People are angry. It feels like political policing.”

A petition launched on behalf of the community of Camlough and wider South Armagh has gathered more than 4,000 signatures and is calling for all officers concerned in this alleged event to be “vindicated for their actions and immediately returned to front-line duties without punishment”.

Police said it would be inappropriate to comment at this time on an internal investigation.