THE report that makes a raft of recommendations to transform policing in south Armagh has been welcomed by nationalists as "long overdue".
The review contains 50 recommendations, including the closure of the heavily fortified Crossmaglen PSNI station and ditching the policy that sees patrolling police officers routinely carry assault rifles.
Authored by two senior PSNI commanders, the report also recommends closer working with the Garda Siochana and says consideration should be given to providing signage in Irish.
It was prompted by a social media post in 2019 that included a photograph of Chief Constable Simon Byrne posing with heavily armed officers at Crossmaglen police station.
Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said his party has told successive chief constables since 2007 that their approach was wrong.
"I'm glad that the current chief constable followed through on the meeting we had with them after that photograph in Crossmaglen, and he promised to follow through on a review an a change to the style of policing here, so this promises that and it will be very much welcomed in this community" he said.
"All we have wanted is a proper responsive policing service that respects the community that it serves and there are a series of recommendations in here to bring us to that point. We will work with the police to get there."
SDLP councillor Peter Byrne said people in south Armagh had "waited a long time to get to this point" and echoed Mr Murphy's assertion that the review was "long overdue".
He described the 2019 tweet as the "tipping point for the community".
"That image spoke a thousand words, it's taken nearly two years to get to this point but there has been a lot of engagement from people on the ground," he said.
Mr Byrne said some of the report's 50 recommendations in terms of infrastructure and the downgrading of assault rifles would "get a lot of headlines"
"But what should get the headlines today is the other recommendations of changing the nature of policing and how police actually move about south Armagh," he said.
However, the representative body for police warned that the safety of officers in what has traditionally been one of the toughest areas to police must be prioritised.
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI) chairman Mark Lindsay said the report also acknowledged "considerable positive changes that have taken place in south Armagh".
"That said, our officers still face considerable challenges, more now from organised crime gangs than paramilitaries," he said.
"Officers policing on behalf of the entire south Armagh community cannot be put at risk."
DUP MP Gregory Campbell said urged a cautious approach to implementing the recommendations.
He said there had been an outcry in Derry five years ago about the moving of a memorial remembering RUC and PSNI officers injured or killed in the city.
"Thankfully the police not only saw sense but the wider community saw the sensitivities of that. If they are going to repeat the same mistake in south Armagh they can hardly expect a different outcome," he said.
