It might not be what they wanted to hear, but the reality that the breadth of crime that is investigated by An Garda Siochana is far broader than what was the case decades ago, when there was a garda in every village and living above the shop — this was the message from Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to concerned councillors when he visited Galway this week to address the County Council’s Joint Policing Committee.
Although he is only four years in this job, Commissioner Harris is a dab hand at listening to concerns of councillors and JPCs the length of the country. At such meetings, he is well accustomed to hearing the need for greater rural policing and for the re-opening of closed and discarded rural garda stations, although he emphasised that none have been shut down on his watch, and none will be, as he sees them playing a role in the future of rural polling, once the force hits the magic figure of 15,000 members next year.
In Galway, he came armed with his plan for the future of policing, and spoke about the changes that have been visited upon An Garda Siochana in the past few years; various reports and inquiries and recommendations for the biggest reform of the force since its establishment.
While welcoming his plan for reform, most of the councillors were of the opinion that on the ground the reality is very different from the fantasy. That elderly people live in fear in isolated areas, in the full knowledge that help at hand from their closest garda station may be an hour or more away.
Councillors harked back for the day when gardai were an integral part of the local community; themselves and their families embedded in its clubs and organisations, living in the house beside the barracks and being seen as a constant and reconisable force for good in the area.
Commissioner Harris met the criticism head on and explained that the traditional model of the Gardai living beside the station is one that is not a popular option for many officers.
Lifestyle choice
“People have to volunteer in live in a house beside the station. It has to be a lifestyle choice for them and their family. Some want to do it, but many don’t want to volunteer for that because it has repercussions for the family of the officer as well.
“I am hearing many comparisons about what were doing back in the 80s and 90s and what we are doing now. The reality is that An Garda Siochana is investigating a multitude of what we were doing back then. We now have the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, Garda National Immigration Bureau, Garda National Cyber Crime Burear; Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Garda National Drugs and the Organised Crime Bureau and so much more.
He said that it is only when the force (now at 14,300 officers ) hits its optimum figure of 15,000 members that the proper allocation of resources will be able to be made. This he hopes will include officers with sufficiently proficient with Irish to enable them to serve in the Connemara Gaeltacht — an issue that greatly aggrieves Connemara communities.
“Recruitment into the force is going in the right trajectory, but as people come in, other people leave and that’s natural. However, we have embarked on a recruitment campaign that is reaping rewards. In a few weeks time, we will see the first 200 of these recruits pass out from Templemore; and for every eleven weeks after that, another 200. When we reach 15,000 we will have the adequate figure for the population we are dealing with, and then we can make a full assessment of what is needed where.
In response to concerns of elected councillors about the scourge of cocaine in rural areas, he said that he is aware of this and cognisant that local drugs teams are having success against the trade, but he admits the tide is running against the gardai due to the volume of drugs being imported.
“We have invested in very division around their drugs unit and we have had success. Yet the drugs keep coming, and they kept coming during Covid, because organised crime uses every opportunity to ruin and distort lives. And drugs crimes bring other crimes.
“I take very seriously the impact of cocaine, and more should be done the education. Those who use it habitually are driving the demand, but they are often the people bemoaning human rights and the impact on the planet, when the cocaine trade is based on slavery and destruction of the rain forests. People who use it never mind the damage it does on those fronts. Those who drive the demand should know better,” he said.
“But the internationalism of the force also aids in the battle against the drug trade. Unless we engage in an international aspect, then we have no scope around trafficking,” he said.
Consistent approach
Commissioner Harris said that communities are looking for a more adaptable and responsive policing service.
“We want our emhasis to be on protecting the vulnerable, but to improve standards, and we have to have a consistency of approach and response. Up until now, too much of Garda response was an Eircode lottery. What I want is to remove the bureaucracy and free up resources and gardai for frontline duties.
“There has been a change in crime as well. Nature of crime has changed. We have to guard against future threats. We are an organisation that continue to grow and the govt has supported this growth. For the last four years, the Government has increased our budget.
“Our emphasis is on protecting the vulnerable. We want to build a more effective and efficient service.
“As commissioner, precious thing is the respect that the community have for gardai and that is gratifying to see. Gradually, we are reducing the bureaucracy and free up resources and gardai for frontline duties.
“We have moved from a district model when we had 100 districts and we had a very diff standard of delivery across the country.= Our ability to provide a consistent service that metets people’s needs was stretched.
Areas in small scale fried and domestuve abide. I want to build up the org that has a consistent standardised approach. Once we have this consistency, we can improve the standards.
If you win at one level, you are losing at another. We are in the evry early days of the policing plan, I would ask that everyone gives it a chance to bed in.
The organisation is very robust and working in An Garda Siochana is still very much sought after. We have thousands of people applying fir it. We are an organisation people want to work for, but I take very seriously the comments ymade around people feeling isolated in rural areas.
“There is no plan to close down further stations. None have been closed in the last four eyars and none will be as we seek to use them to create better engegement wiht rural communities. How the connection can be improve upon.
This is part of an ongoing discussion,” he added.
