PSNI accused of ‘endangering lives’

THE PSNI has been accused of putting lives in danger by not involving the a local community rescue service team in two operations on the River Mourne.

Paul McColgan, who was instrumental in establishing the Community Rescue Service (CRS) in Strabane and has since stepped back due to health issues, highlighted one recent incident in Castlederg.

He said that when a distressed man threatened to enter the river in the town, despite the Strabane CRS team being on 24-hour standby, the
PSNI opted to task a water rescue team from Derry, which is further away.

A similar situation arose when a young woman entered the water in Strabane.

Again, the PSNI called for assistance from Derry, bypassing the closer CRS team.

“The CRS can launch a boat into the Mourne in approximately eight minutes from the time an alert comes in,” Mr McColgan stated, adding that a team from Derry would take around 30 minutes to do the same.

He warned that ‘time equals survivability’ in search and rescue operations and expressed concerns that if the issue isn’t addressed, more lives could be lost.

“As a founding member of the community rescue service in Strabane and district, I call on our elected councillors, MLAs and our MP to address this issue with the PSNI at local and regional level without delay.”

In response, a PSNI spokesperson stated that in both incidents, the individuals involved were located
within minutes, and there was no need to task additional rescue services.

They added, “Police work on a continuing basis with a number of voluntary rescue service partners, whose volunteers have been involved in numerous operations to help save people’s lives, and the Police Service is extremely grateful for the work they continue to do.”

“Our priority is to keep people safe and I want to reassure the public we work at all times to ensure the right resources are in place to do this, and this is especially important when we deal with calls in respect of the concern for safety of members of the public.”