“Over the past week we have been deploying additional targeted police patrols in East Belfast…”
A 37-year-old man has been arrested by police investigating reports of alleged vigilante behaviour.
The PSNI say he has been arrested on suspicion of assault, theft and causing criminal damage and is currently in custody.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, District Commander Superintendent Gavin Kirkpatrick said: “The activity of these individuals has been generating fear in the community and it has to stop.
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“They are confronting and intimidating innocent members of the public, largely on the basis of the colour of their skin.
“Those involved have neither the legal nor the moral authority to do this. It is the responsibility of the Police Service to enforce the law in Northern Ireland.
“Over the past week we have been deploying additional targeted police patrols in East Belfast to engage, challenge and monitor these groups and provide reassurance to the community.
“We have made one arrest and our investigations are continuing. I want to urge anyone who has been a victim of these groups to report it to police. We will robustly deal with any offences brought to us.”
Superintendent Kirkpatrick added: “Let me be very clear, these groups are not protecting the community from anything.
“In reality these groups are frustrating our efforts to provide a policing service to the people of East Belfast by forcing us to redirect our limited resources to monitoring them. I urge everyone involved in this type of activity to stop.
“I would encourage anyone with any information which could assist Police to contact us on 101 or report online via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.”
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