Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told the Northern Ireland Policing Board that the PSNI should not have examined former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney or his family. He made the comments at a public meeting on Thursday.

Boutcher said past guidelines failed to offer enough protection for journalists. He added that the PSNI had not engaged in widespread abuse of reporters.

MI5 admitted it unlawfully obtained Kearney's data in 2006 and 2009. The admission came in a September 2025 letter to Kearney, now RTE's northern editor, and the BBC.

The PSNI and Metropolitan Police have made similar concessions. A report by Angus McCullough KC last year found more than 20 PSNI attempts to identify journalists' sources but ruled the surveillance was not widespread or systemic.

Sinn Fein MLA Linda Dillon asked why the PSNI created a profile of Kearney and his family and whether profiles exist for other journalists or professionals.

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath stated the McCullough report does not cover all instances and asked if Boutcher believes an independent inquiry is needed.

Boutcher called Kearney an outstanding journalist of high integrity who did nothing wrong. He noted Kearney was never a suspect in PSNI investigations and that he holds Kearney in high regard.

Boutcher said codes of practice from 2007 lacked rigor to prevent undue surveillance of journalists and others in sensitive professions.