More resources are required to protect the public from “serious criminal activity” in south Armagh, it has been warned.
The call comes after police vehicles were rammed in two separate incidents last weekend.
A Sinn Féin member of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council said there have been concerns over criminality linked to gang activity in the region “for many years”, but not enough was being done to tackle the problem.
The warning follows a suspected stolen blue Mazda Demio ramming a PSNI vehicle in the Belfast Road area of Newry at around 11.20pm last Friday, causing “extensive damage and injuries to the two officers inside”.
Hours later, in a separate incident, a police vehicle was rammed by a silver van in the Dobsons Way area of Bessbrook.
No injuries were reported in that incident, and no serious damage was caused to the police vehicle.
No arrests have been made in connection with either incident, and police have urged anyone with information to come forward.
Councillor for the Slieve Gullion area, Sinn Féin’s Declan Murphy, said locals were increasingly concerned over incidents in south Armagh.
He said a gang in the area has been operating in the area “for many years” that has been been “involved in serious criminal activity”.
“The community must also do everything in its power to expose these criminals. There should be no hiding place for them,” he said.
Mr Murphy told The Irish News there needed to be a “holistic” process in tackling criminality.
“I don’t believe there are the resources or the proper will to get to grips with this problem,” he said.
“Without a solution, the public and police can get caught in the crossfire with the activity of these groups.
“There needs to be a holistic, top-down solution to dealing with the problem, and that requires adequate resources from agencies.”
Following the arrests of two men in south Armagh in December by members of the PSNI’s Organised Crime Branch, Newry Mourne and Down district commander, Superintendent Norman Haslett, said he was “confident that this policing operation has disrupted the activities of criminals within the south Armagh area”, adding: “The public should be reassured that we will continue in our efforts to dismantle criminality.”
