Enough is enough for the gardai

Once upon a time…

In the old days in An Garda Siochana we had some primitive equipment and technology. We had phones that were attached to antiquated switch boards and radio sets that had a little dial on the front and on a good day you could have the use of three channels. You could pass a message from one to the other which was basically all you needed. Members went out on beat duty and before they left the station they would be briefed by a sergeant on what they should do and what they should be on the look- out for. They based their briefings on local intelligence and common sense. They were simple times but things worked pretty well and there was a connection with the management and a feeling that we were all working together to catch the bad guys.

Over the years many attempts have been made at improving and modernising the Force and not all of them have worked. PULSE was one such attempt and its introduction was supposed to mark the end of paperwork in An Garda Siochana. The reality is that there is probably more correspondence flying around the organisation now than ever before and it’s all backed up with the same hard copies that PULSE was designed to get rid of. The new roster system has been another disaster.

Political interference must go

Over the years we have seen a growing disconnect between the senior management in An Garda Siochana and the regular police officers who go about their duty on a daily basis. There is a feeling among rank and file gardai that decisions are being made that have more to do with the political aspirations of the Minister for Justice than actual policing.

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has said that if gardaí were to strike, they would “change their relationship with the public forever”. He said that “Whatever they may get for a day on strike, I think they will fundamentally change their relationship with the public who will see it as a carte blanche to break the law and I really hope they don’t cross that Rubicon because it’s not in their interest to do so”.

Bit of a neck

This is fairly rich coming from a guy that has been part of a system that has brought An Garda Siochana to where it is today, perilously close to rock bottom. A lack of foresight and a refusal to invest in manpower, equipment and other resources over the years is the simple reason for that. A colleague of Leo, Dublin Fingal deputy Alan Farrell hit out at Ireland’s “Victorian network” of more than 560 garda stations saying: “We don’t need anything near that”. He said that in his opinion Ireland’s “Victorian network” has “absolutely no space in our policing plans in terms of the maintenance and upkeep of x number of hundred stations across this State when we don’t need anything near that”.

Unknown to Alan, policing in Ireland is uniquely community based and is the envy of other police forces in many jurisdictions around the world. I know this to be a fact because I have addressed many of them in my time. These small stations provide a hugely important part of rural community life and play a vital role in reducing crime and the fear of crime in those areas. Typically these stations are only open for short periods and don’t tie up resources.

Time for change

The men and women at the front line of policing have decided that enough is enough and they have taken the difficult decision to take strike action. I’m sure this decision was not taken lightly and it will have caused much soul searching among those members but there comes a time when people have to be true to themselves and take a stand.

This situation has been developing over years and has been flagged not only by the gardai themselves but also by the Garda Inspectorate. Deputy Chief Inspector Mark Toland said that it’s impossible for senior managers in the guards to know exactly how busy they are if they’re not recording everything and it’s really difficult then to decide how many guards you actually need if you don’t know how busy you are.

He also said that An Garda Síochána is 30 years behind other police services in terms of investment in technology and that civilianisation of the force was “woefully slow”.

This sounds familiar

Crucially they found that people are not always on duty at the right times, in the right places and doing the right things and it is their belief that front-line services are not prioritised and protected. The Inspectorate also had another important observation to make. Chief Inspector Robert Olson said the current crime-logging system used by gardaí – Pulse – should be scrapped and he also said that the universal roster in place in Garda stations needs to be updated as it’s “not fit for purpose for criminal investigation, simple as that”.

They have also said that “many leaders are reluctant to make decisions and to speak up.” I have been criticised in the past for making that very point.

The Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice issue a lot of meaningless statements while passing the baton of responsibility from one to the other. They arrogantly refuse to listen to their critics and stubbornly carry on as before. How often do they have to be told?