Police accountability, including the handling of complaints, police corruption and the use of force will be among the issues discussed in a major international conference to be held in Belfast in November.
The conference, "Policing the Police: The Challenges" will be held between November 5 and 7 and will hear from speakers including the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens.
Practitioners and researchers including those from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, South Africa, Jamaica, Finland and Norway are scheduled to deliver papers covering a range of issues in relation to police accountability including the concepts of "restorative justice", "confidence in the police", "informal resolution" and the Human Rights Act.
The conference will also consider how police accountability can operate in a "counter terrorism" environment and will look at other issues of security such as closing loopholes in the corrupt access to police information.
The event will be hosted by the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, the only agency in existence that provides an effective, independent system for the investigation of complaints against the police. Although only three years old, the Office's work including its investigation into matters surrounding the Omagh Bomb in which 29 people were killed, has attracted international attention.
Further information about the conference is available by phoning 028 9023 5001 or by logging onto http://www.ptp2003.org/.
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For further information please contact Police Ombudsman Information Office. Telephone 028 90 828604.