Police have hit back after posters appeared on lamp posts warning people not to talk to the PSNI

Police have hit back after posters appeared on lamp posts warning people not to talk to the PSNI.

The message, 'PSNI - People Should Not Inform' was printed on the posters followed by 'MI5' - a reference to the security agency that runs informers inside paramilitary groups.

Police officers took to social media to criticise the message and said that "inform is not a dirty word".

The PSNI Craigavon Facebook page went on to outline a series of incidents in which members of the public contacted them over a suspected criminal offence - and may even have saved lives.

These included a drunk driver, a domestic abuse case and a drug dealer.

Slamming those behind the posters, the officer branded them 'Team Stuck In The Past'.

The PSNI officer said telling the police about crime meant allowing them to intervene and help the vulnerable. "It's a word you should be proud of. It means to speak out. It means to say enough is enough. It means to take pride in your community."

The officer said that in the case of a member of the public calling the police about a driver he suspect was drunk, "he was taken off the road that night rather than being allowed to drive in that state and possibly kill".

Belfast Telegraph