Installing cameras on roundabouts in an effort to combat burglaries is a no go currently because of GDPR, that is according to Chief Superintendent Tom Curley.
Responding to a question asked by Fine Gael councillor Joe Byrne at the County JPC meeting on Monday on Microsoft Teams, the Chief Superintendent said, while he is favour of any tools that can assist gardai in investigating crimes, installing cameras on roundabouts currently is not possible because of rulings surrounding GDPR.
He said; "We have our own means of surveillance and investigation and any tools to assist us in any investigation, I would be in favour of it. With GDPR and issues of having cameras on public roads, there are areas which need to be sorted out first.
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"Anyone who has information about burglaries in recent days, we ask them to make contact with the gardai and we will follow through not the information. A number of burglaries have occurred in the Gort area. Resources have been put into the investigation of these burglaries, both from Loughrea and Gort and from divisional perspective.
'Cllr Byrne described the theft as a "hammer blow" for St Thomas' Hurling Club'
"High visibility is something we continue to strive for in policing Galway. We have had more people on the ground as result of Covid-19 roster which means we had 20 per cent extra working for us which has been a real plus for us. The Government has allocated further overtime to gardai for checkpoints, extra patrols, and higher visibility."
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Cllr Byrne's question comes as St Thomas' Hurling Club was burgled on Sunday morning resulting in the club's gym equipment being stolen.
In a Facebook post the club said; "Unfortunately our clubhouse was broken into early this morning (Sunday November 29 ) and the majority of our gym equipment was stolen. If anyone saw any suspicious activity from a van around the clubhouse or in the parish between 1am to 3am can you please contact either Colin Burke, Maureen Duggan or Darren Burke and we will forward the information to the Gardaí. Míle Buíochas."
Cllr Byrne described the theft as a "hammer blow" for the club. The meeting also revealed 164 instances of burglary were recorded for the period of January to October, down 27 per cent from the same period last year.
