It makes more sense for gardaí on the street and visible in the community rather than waiting inside an office for people to report a crime according to Independent Galway City Central candidate Mike Geraghty.
Mr Geraghty was responding to recent calls by other candidates that garda substations are needed in the city to combat crime.
“The feedback I get is that people would prefer to see more gardaí on the beat,” he said. “The presence of an authority figure can be more of a deterrent to criminal behaviour than paying rent for an office which will more than likely be underutilised.”
Mr Geraghty has also called on the Galway City Council and the gardaí to work closely together on policing local communities.
“Wider use of CCTV would be beneficial the cost is often prohibitive but effective neighbourhood watch schemes could help,” he said. “If used efficiently they could lead to less blatant damage for example the wanton destruction of newly planted trees in Westside recently.”
