
Twenty years ago policing was given a new beginning, one meant to be free of politics, but recent events have shown it has not escaped that space.
Confidence in the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been dented by its response to the pandemic.
Mistakes have been made, but policing a divided society has magnified them.
The realisation that a failure of policing is also a failure of politics was a factor in parties backing Simon Byrne remaining as chief constable.
Mr Byrne was hired in mid-2019 on a modernisation agenda and part of the task was making the PSNI more “normal”, more like any other UK police service.
But he has struggled with Northern Ireland being a place apart.
His first year was marked by a failure to grasp nuance and sensitivities and then, in year two, policing the pandemic has become increasingly politicised.

To his critics, Mr Byrne has at times seemed a hapless onlooker.
Yes, the incident has damaged that relationship, but by how much?
As articulated by Sinn Féin chairman Declan Kearney, the episode is simply a reminder that the PSNI has much work still to do to complete its “transformation”.
Equally, the government’s failure to deal with legacy is part of the landscape.
‘Uphill journey’
But where there has been a more noticeable marked change in recent times is in unionist perceptions of policing.
Much of it stems from how the PSNI has dealt with funerals of paramilitary figures, most notably that of senior IRA man Bobby Storey.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has spoken of an “uphill journey” to rebuild trust.
Prior to last week, it was unionist politicians who were questioning Mr Byrne’s credibility and as one party source put it he was, at that stage, “a step away” from a campaign calling for him to go.
Some observers of policing see Mr Storey’s funeral as a seminal moment.
Deputy First Minister Michele O’Neill has admitted it undermined the health message, but to what extent did it undermine policing the pandemic also?
A week ago Mr Byrne was fighting to remain in the job.

His apology for the incident at the commemoration – and the suspension of one of the officers involved – was part of a choreographed response that concluded with the policing board giving him full support to continue.
The chief constable is 18 months into a five year contract.
He has difficulties on two fronts, outside and inside the PSNI, where among the rank and file, some Catholic officers are angry at the intervention at the commemoration and others at an officer’s suspension for enforcing health regulations.
Regaining lost confidence will be very challenging.
Mr Byrne’s big idea is enhanced neighbourhood policing, officers who have the pulse of their community patches, and what happened at the commemoration was a set-back for this project.
Weakened by recent events, there is a sense Mr Byrne now needs backing, not just by politicians toning down the criticism, but in ongoing financial discussions.
The PSNI is facing a £23m black hole in its draft 2021-22 budget which, if it becomes a reality in the weeks ahead, could result in officer numbers falling by 300.
That would leave it around 800 shy of the 7,500 officers envisaged by the Patten Report which created the PSNI.
So as it approaches its 20th birthday later this year, the PSNI is in a difficult moment – a moment in which it finds itself no less detached from politics than when Chris Patten spoke of a need for “depoliticising” policing.