The recent spate of violent attacks perpetrated on the streets of the capital is reflective of the issues facing the Gardai on a national scale and within Athlone and its immediate environs, Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, stated to the Athlone Advertiser this week.
Referencing the highly publicised incident in which New York native, Stephen Termini, was hospitalised, following an assault in Dublin, Cllr O'Rourke noted that there is now issues of immense concern within An Garda Siochana, many of which have been "brewing" for numerous years.
"The lack of investment in An Garda Siochana, the lack of meaningful leadership withing the force, and the complete lack of a plan to deal with the greatest threat facing Ireland's good reputation abroad is now becoming clearly evident and having a detrimental impact on law and order in our society," Cllr O'Rourke asserted.
The councillor stated that prior to the appointment of Drew Harris as Garda Commissioner, the leadership within the force was "anything but plain sailing".
"Martin Callinan's tenure ended prematurely with his resignation following the penalty points controversy and his very poor handing of the whistleblowers at the time.
"Subsequently, Noirin O'Sullivan retired early because, as she put it, 'it has become clear that the core of my job is now about responding to an unending cycle of requests, questions, instructions and public hearings'.
"So, for the past decade or more the higher echelons of An Garda Siochana have been in turmoil, gripped by controversies and scandals," Cllr O'Rourke added.
Despite Kathleen O'Toole's sterling work on researching and developing 'The Future of Policing in Ireland' report five years ago, Cllr O'Rourke asserted that little had improved within An Garda Siochana during this time.
"The first principal and objective put forward by Kathy O'Toole's report was to have a new approach to policing and community safety, which will ensure police are more visible in communities and can focus on preventing harm.
"Gardai remain less visible, those within our local community feel less safe and there has been little or no focus on preventing harm. Regularly, people are being attacked, harmed and killed. News of someone being found dead in a house is now a daily occurrence, once it was a scandal, now it is the norm.
"Government have not given law and order the focus or attention it has required. All that has been delivered from Kathy O'Toole's report since 2018 has been a new uniform. Policing our country properly is key to maintaining our good reputation as a place to visit, live and do business. As a population we need to also feel safe, and feel proud of our police force," Cllr O'Rourke remarked.
With numbers diminishing within the gardai, the councillor stated that existing members are struggling to find the motivation to carry on in the job.
"We have reached crisis point. Government in my view need to put in place a strategic taskforce in the Taoiseach's department to work immediately on a plan to reimagine An Garda Siochana.
Kathy O'Toole's report would be a good place to start but it will also be necessary to take on board the challenges and direction crime and criminality has taken in recent years. Young people do not see the force as a decent career choice, that needs to change immediately. We need to build the force to double its current compliment and we can only do that if pay, conditions and promotional opportunities are realistic.
"We must have our gardai visible at all times to the public. Visit any town or city in the world and you will see the local police force out and about on the main streets. It gives a great sense of comfort to people to see a police presence, particularly for visitors. With garda numbers as low as they are, we have no chance of seeing members of the force on the beat.
"In Athlone, there are barely enough gardai to man the barracks and respond to calls. Walking the beat is a luxury we cannot afford in Athlone given our dwindling national numbers. More gardai are retiring and resigning from the force in recent years than we have had new ones graduate and don't expect Athlone to receive a new garda from Templemore anytime soon.
"Community gardai must reach in to the heart of troubled communities. Covert drugs operations, while expensive to maintain, should be ramped up to dig out and lock-up the real players, not just the occasional 'small fry'. This will take money and planning but is essential. As an island nation, in co-operation with our defence forces, we need to ramp up security and policing of our coastline, ports and airports. We need to intercept a lot more incoming drugs as a country than we currently are," Cllr O'Rourke asserted.
The councillor is imploring the Government to adopt a new approach to policing, a move, he claims which is essential for the future of An Garda Siochana's wellbeing.
"Drew Harris' attempt to implement a British model of policing in Ireland is not going down well with rank and file members, nor is it working.
"The men and women of An Garda Siochana deserve huge credit for the work they do in very difficult circumstances. There is no doubt, morale is low in the force, however, rank and file members are professional to the core and work hard despite the lack of direction, support or respect from the top.
"The knee-jerk response from Government to the recent troubles in Dublin means that Templemore will now become the exclusive pipeline for new Gardai for Dublin for the foreseeable future. All the focus will now be on Dublin at the expense of our local community. I accept Dublin needs a plan, but so to does Athlone and the rest of the country," the councillor concluded.
