Linzi McLaren, who served for 18 years, says the threat to relatives of officers is a 'new low'.
A former police officer has said a dissident republican threat against relatives of Northern Ireland police officers could deter new recruits.Linzi McLaren, who served in the Police Service of Northern Ireland for 18 years, said the threat was a "new low"."I think this threat is going to effect those very junior in service or those thinking of joining, or those at the very end of their career," she said.
"You never expect that something so personal as your loved ones are ever going to be a consequence of your decision of being a police officer."The group emerged in 2017 but since then it has been less active than other dissident republican groups the New IRA and the Continuity IRA. Ms McLaren said a generation of officers have served during the period since the Troubles and they would be thinking of their own and their family's safety following the threat.Ms McLaren, who is standing in the forthcoming council elections for the Ulster Unionist Party, has been open about her former career and said she has been left scared for the safety of her family.
"There's a huge disconnect now between the new generation of young officers coming through," she said."They didn't live through the Troubles, so they're starting out as police officers with what every police officer should be starting out with - the desire to make a difference, help people, work in communities.
"They don't have that instinct for fear or the threat against them. But obviously that's going to change now. They're going to have to reassess everything it means to be a police officer."
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