SINN Féin policing spokesperson Gerry Kelly MLA says he will raise comments by former PSNI superintendent and newly co-opted UUP MLA Jon Burrows at the next Policing Board meeting.
Mr Burrows has written to Chief Constable Jon Boutcher claiming that PSNI officers have been forced to leave their weapons outside when entering Sinn Féin offices.
Jon Burrows became the UUP MLA for North Antrim in July after serving in the police for 22 years. He was appointed to replace Colin Crawford, who left the party and stood down from Stormont after less than a year in office after an internal party row about the race riots in Ballymena.
In his letter, Mr Burrows said that Sinn Féin representatives have “demanded that PSNI officers remove their personal protection firearms before entering Sinn Féin offices to deal with members of the public or on occasion when attending community meetings.”
“I have ascertained that this happened specifically in West Belfast and at other locations in Northern Ireland,” he wrote.
He went on to describe the practice as “unacceptable” and “an outrageous example of political interference in policing”.
In response, Mr Kelly said: "Sinn Féin does not instruct or direct police officers. Nobody has the authority to tell police officers what to do other than their superior officers.
"Sinn Féin sits on the Policing Board, like other parties with a democratic mandate, to deliver representative policing and to hold the police to account.
"In that context, Sinn Féin will raise this issue at the Policing Board on Thursday, 6 November."
