Abolishing PSNI full time reserve would be 'diabolical': Neeson

12.00.00am GMT Fri 23rd Jan 2004

East Antrim Assembly member Sean Neeson has said that any attempt to abolish the full-time reserve at this time would be "non-sensical and diabolical".

Mr Neeson said: "As a former member of the Police Authority, I am only too much aware of the major contribution the full-time reserve make to policing in Northern Ireland.

"It is clear that with the continued threat and activities of paramilitaries, plus the increase in racial and other attacks in Northern Ireland, that police resources are fully stretched at the moment.

"Many of the full-time reserve are of as high a quality as normal officers. It is important that policing is not undermined for the sake of one party's political agenda.

"It is crucial that the future of policing should not become a political football. The public at large wants to see more police on the ground, not fewer."