The Ulster Unionist Leader, Mike Nesbitt MLA and party colleagues, Michael Copeland MLA and Belfast City Councillor Jim Rodgers met with the Chief Constable Matt Baggott and Assistant Chief Constables Drew Harris and George Hamilton at PSNI Headquarters today.
Speaking following the meeting Mike Nesbitt said, “We reaffirmed our full support for the rule of law. We received a briefing from the Chief Constable about recent riots in East Belfast and we also discussed many issues including the policing of protests, provocation from the Short Strand and a number of individual complaints regarding the conduct of individual officers.
"Clearly, anyone with a specific complaint should take their case to the Office of the Police Ombudsman, but the only way to bring calm and confidence back to the streets of Belfast is to stop the protests and take up the offer of a political way forward, through the Unionist Forum, which we see as a positive alternative. The Forum gathers for an initial meeting on Thursday morning at Stormont.”