‘Police details’ poster in bus shelter contained incorrect information

By Jonathan McCambridge and David Young, PA

A poster placed in a bus shelter in Co Derry claiming to disclose personal details on three serving police officers contained incorrect information, the PSNI has said.

The police had launched an investigation into the incident in Chapel Road in Dungiven on Thursday.

The poster was placed in the shelter weeks after the details of about 10,000 officers and staff were mistakenly released online in a major PSNI data breach.

However, providing an update on the Dungiven investigation on Friday evening, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said the information purportedly revealed by the poster was incorrect.

“We are aware that a poster claiming to contain details of three serving officers was placed near a bus shelter on Chapel Road in Dungiven last night, Thursday August 31,” he said.

“This was a clear attempt to intimidate police officers, staff and their families, but police can confirm that the information contained on the poster is incorrect.”

Last month, details of officers and staff, including the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit they work in were released in response to a Freedom of Information request.

The PSNI has confirmed the list is in the hands of dissident republicans, who continue to target officers.

The admission came after redacted information from the breach was posted on the wall of a library in west Belfast near a Sinn Féin office.

Just earlier this year Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot a number of times at a leisure facility in Co Tyrone.

Police officers and their representative organisations have spoken out in recent weeks over concern for their safety.

A number of other data breaches have since come to light, including the loss of a police officer’s laptop and notebook which contained details of 42 officers and members of staff after the items fell from a moving vehicle.

An independent review of the circumstances of the data breach is to be carried out, led by City of London Police Assistant Commissioner Peter O’Doherty.

It will look at process and actions leading to the breach and if any organisational, governance or management issues allowed it to happen.

Last month a man appeared in court in Co Antrim charged with two terror offences relating to the data breach.