Background to the Research

• Interface violence and tension has surfaced at times over the years in many areas of North Belfast, notably in 1996 in response to disputes over parades, and in 2001 during the Holy Cross protests. Since that time, disorder has largely remained under control; however, antagonisms have continued.
• There is little information relating to young people's experience of the violence, experiences of the other community, how the trouble has affected their sense of moving safely around their area, and how they view the policing of their areas. This research attempted to fill that gap.
  

Research Approach

• A questionnaire was completed by 2,386 young people aged 14-17 years in eleven post-primary schools in North Belfast.
• Six focus groups were carried out with young people aged 12-18 years in schools and community groups.
• Two focus groups were conducted with police officers and four interviews with community representatives in the North Belfast area.
  

Main Findings

Questionnaires - School Safety

• 26% of young people had felt intimidated travelling to/from school in North Belfast.
• More females (29%) than males (22%) had felt intimidated, along with 30% from the Catholic community and 19% from the Protestant community.
• Over half (51%) of young people had experienced an incidence of violence and/or threatening behaviour while travelling to and from school, with 20% reporting their school bus being attacked. 47% of respondents who had experienced violence and disorder reported that the main protagonists in these incidents were young people wearing school uniforms.
• 66% of young people felt that the police did not provide a safe environment for young people travelling to and from school.
  

Questionnaires - Community Life

• 75% of young people had friends from a different community background to themselves.
• 31% of young people participated in cross-community projects, with a further 19% not wanting to.
• 61% of respondents felt that their community background restricted their movement within North Belfast.

Questionnaires - Community Violence

• 82% of young people indicated an experience of violence or disorder in North Belfast, with the most commonly reported incident being fighting between members of the Catholic and Protestant communities (61%).
• 50% of respondents had been affected by violence and disorder in North Belfast, with the most frequently reported effect being that young people were unable to travel through parts of the area (26%).
• Young people who lived within North Belfast were more affected by, and had more experience of, violence and disorder than young people from outside North Belfast; females were more likely to be affected than males.
• 39% of respondents indicated that the police held the most authority within their community.
• More young people from within North Belfast (41%) indicated that paramilitary groups held the most authority than did respondents from outside North Belfast (29%).
• 38% indicated that they would contact the police first to report an attack against them.

Questionnaires - Policing in North Belfast:

• 43% of young people felt that the current level of policing at interfaces increased sectarian violence, and half of respondents thought that interface violence should be a policing priority.
• The majority of respondents indicated that the police in North Belfast monitored and controlled parades unfairly (53%), with 62% from the Catholic community and 41% from the Protestant community holding this view.
• 65% of respondents thought that the police did not understand the issues and problems experienced by young people in North Belfast.
• 36% of young people indicated that they had been verbally harassed by the police. Young people who lived outside North Belfast generally had more positive experiences.
• 44% of respondents felt that an increase in CCTV would improve policing.

Questionnaires - Emergency services

• 27% of young people thought that it was acceptable to throw missiles/objects at the police; 1% thought it was acceptable to attack ambulances.
• 30% of young people from the Catholic community and 25% from the Protestant community thought that it was acceptable to throw missiles/objects at the police.
• 23% of respondents thought that the police provided a good service, compared to 70% for the ambulance service and 69% for the fire service.
• 17% of respondents thought that the police were understanding, compared to 58% for the ambulance service and 50% for the fire service.
• 31% of young people said they would consider joining the ambulance service, 29% the fire service and 12% the police.

Focus Groups - School safety

• All of the young people had either experienced or were aware of incidents in which school children had been attacked verbally and/or physically because of their perceived community background. · The most common incident referred to by young people was school buses being attacked. · Several young people had experienced sectarian abuse because of the school uniform they were wearing. · The PSNI, Translink and schools have been involved in meetings and discussions to decrease attacks on school buses. · Monitoring school routes takes up a considerable amount of police resources but is perceived by the police as being necessary to minimise community tensions in North Belfast.

Focus Groups - Violence and disorder

• All of the young people in the focus groups had experienced violence and disorder in their communities. The most frequently reported incident was sectarian fighting.
• The Holy Cross Dispute had damaged community relations throughout North Belfast.
• Incidents of violence and disorder had recently decreased around interfaces in North Belfast.
• The majority of young people welcomed CCTV, but the police felt that it was not possible to attribute the recent decrease in violence and disorder solely to its presence.

Focus Groups - Restriction of movement

• Young people felt that their community background was a significant factor in determining the places they could travel to in North Belfast.
• Several facilities and amenities were inaccessible to one community or the other due to their location.

Focus Groups - Parades

• Attitudes to band parades were principally determined by the community background of the young people: those from the Catholic community wanted them stopped, while Protestant young people wanted all of them permitted.
• The majority of young people, regardless of community background, had no understanding or knowledge about the history of band parades.
• Band parades were seen as a catalyst for violence and disorder in North Belfast.

Focus Groups - Policing

• The majority of young people reported negative experiences of the police. The most common complaints were of police officers using obscene language and of them stopping people for no apparent reason.
• Young people thought that the police treated Catholic and Protestant communities differently.
• Few young people had communicated with the police at an informal level.
• There was consensus that attacks on fire brigades and ambulances were wrong but attacks on the police were acceptable.
• Young people identified interface problems, drug dealing, paramilitary activity and domestic violence as the four areas that should be prioritised by the police.
• Young people thought that more CCTV, greater community input into policing and more uniformed police would be the most significant improvements to local policing and safety.

Recommendations

• There is a need to provide and deliver effectively a broader range of information to young people on all aspects of policing including policy formulations and operational decisions in the North Belfast area.
• The PSNI need to be able to hear and respond to the concerns of young people about current approaches to the policing of young people.
• We recommend that the PSNI should review their overall training programme in relation to communicating and interacting with young people.
• The PSNI should establish a consultative forum for young people in North Belfast.
• The PSNI in North Belfast should develop a programme that encourages more effective engagement between the young people and the police.
• The PSNI has already initiated a programme of work with young people through some of the schools in the area. This should be commended.
• The ongoing work between Translink, the PSNI and schools in North Belfast must be commended.
• It might be beneficial to develop a closer working relationship between the police, fire and ambulance services at an educational level.
• More should be done by local community representatives, politicians and representatives from the statutory and voluntary sector in reaching out and engaging with young people on issues that are relevant to them.
• The report highlights that young people in North Belfast have experienced, and continue to experience, high levels of violence, and significantly higher levels of violence than young people living in nearby areas. This needs to be taken into consideration by all statutory bodies working with young people.
• The research also suggests that there may be a connection between the high levels of inter-communal violence and higher levels of domestic violence and sexual violence. This should be explored through further research.