Stephen Nolan gains two years of access to seven PSNI officers
stephen nolan spent two years with a team of seven Police Service of Northern Ireland officers, following them through nights of public disorder, city centre assaults, drug dens and drunk drivers. The presenter said the experience led to Peelers: The PSNI For Real, a new six-part series built from that access.
Stephen Nolan and the PSNI
Nolan said, "I've been working for the for more than 20 years, but it is nights like this that have had the most profound effect on me in all my years in journalism." He also said, "I quickly realised it was the close bonds that help these officers get through the tough times and long shifts."
The officers took him into their patrol cars and behind the scenes in the police station. That access gave the series a view of the job from inside the shifts, not from the edge of them.
Peelers: The PSNI For Real
Nolan described the project this way: "Peelers: The PSNI For Real is the result – a new six-part series that examines policing in the only part of the UK where officers carry guns and routinely don't tell anyone their real job, for fear of being targeted by dissident republicans." The series follows officers in a force that has faced scrutiny over a mistaken data breach, recruitment from Northern Ireland's Catholic community, and an independent review that found clear evidence of sexism and misogyny.
That backdrop puts the access in sharper focus. Jon Boutcher, the relatively new chief constable, has vowed change within the PSNI, and Nolan said that when he met him he got the sense Boutcher was wary of him. The officers were taking a risk by putting themselves into the public domain, while the series shows viewers the work behind the badge in a place where the real job is often kept private.
Jon Boutcher and PSNI scrutiny
The series arrives as the PSNI continues to deal with those pressures while Nolan, who has worked for the for more than 20 years, turns the experience into a six-part project. For viewers, the immediate value is simple: the series offers a close look at how those officers work, what they face on the street, and why their colleagues often stay out of sight.
