Having read some of the ‘Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021’ as announced by the Garda Commissioner, Noirin O’Sullivan, I find myself once again being a little confused. While I welcome the attempt by the organisation to examine where it is headed in the future, I have a concern that a lot of what the programme contains is nothing more than what we’ve been promised before.
An Garda Siochana has a great opportunity to get its act together and it has a lot of good people who are capable of achieving that. If this isn’t a genuine effort to change then we will be here in another ten years rehashing this argument with the launch of yet another programme for renewal to bring us from 2021 to 2026.
Speaking with forked tongue
My first concern arises in the Commissioner’s Foreword where she says, “We are in and of the community. Community policing is key and core to what we do, in routine operations, and in exceptional operations; this year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and more significantly the 1916 Easter Rising Commemorations were hugely successful and passed off without incident. The central ethos for these successful policing operations was ‘community safety’ and the women and men of An Garda Síochána who policed these events showed fantastic understated professionalism.’
She is correct when she talks about the performances of the regular men and women of the organisation who put the shoulder to the wheel in difficult times of pay cuts, low morale and lack of resources. They did then, and still do, display total dedication to their duty and they deserve to be supported by an efficient organisation.
Her comments in relation to community policing being at the core of the organisation leave me somewhat confused. If she genuinely believes that then why did she oversee the destruction of that aspect of policing when it was working so well? Why then did she not fight to keep rural garda stations open and to keep those gardai in their towns and villages where they belonged?
Only if we can afford it
She goes on to say, “All of the directions laid out in this document will require significantly greater State funding. To that extent, I must state here that although the programme outlined here is supported by detailed action plans, it is contingent upon increased and sustained State funding.”
My concern here is that if the Government decide to implement more budget restraints at some future point does this mean that the whole programme will come tumbling down once more?
“Every day, members of An Garda Síochána work with the community in every part of the country. Policing in Ireland has been synonymous with being of the people and for the people. An Garda Síochána has traditionally had a close relationship with the community through sport, community groups, schools and a wide array of local activity. However, in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, the emergence of a serious drugs problem, the prevailing security situation, and increasing urbanisation meant more resources going to specialist units and diverted away from community policing.”
I don’t really understand this part of the statement given that community policing wasn’t formally introduced into An Garda Siochana until the late eighties. In any event, there were a number of reasons as to why gardai were diverted from community policing duties. One was a shortage of manpower and community gardai were regularly called upon to perform other duties because of that.
There has to be support
Another reason was due to the fact that there was little buy in to the community policing philosophy by members other than those directly involved in it. This too was identified by the Garda Inspectorate but appears not to have been mentioned here.
The Garda Inspectorate has also pointed out that the introduction of a new roster and constraints on resources saw a reduction in the number of dedicated Community Policing Units, particularly in rural areas. The Inspectorate recommended that the roster for community gardai should be tailored specifically for them. The current roster is simply not suitable.
The Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 states, “We will enhance our model of community policing to deliver the style and type of policing that shows our commitment to preventing crime, making communities safer, and addressing the policing challenges of each community.”
“We will establish Community Policing Teams (CPTs) in every District. CPTs will have Gardaí from a number of different disciplines working with the local community to prevent and detect crime.”
“A key focus of our community policing model will be gaining public confidence and trust, listening to the problems of the local community, and demonstrating that An Garda Síochána is committed to a new way of policing focused on the needs of the community to provide a greater sense of security within the community.”
We’ve heard it all before
“We will demonstrate our new policing ethos by engaging with the community through Community Policing Fora to determine their policing requirements. We will hold ourselves publicly accountable to the local community, at their local fora and community meetings, for the level of policing service that we provide in the community.”
This was already in existence but collapsed because the organisation didn’t deem it to be worthy of support. The Garda Inspectorate identified the lack of support for community policing by senior garda management as being a deficiency. Everyone supported the philosophy in public but privately much of this support was non- existent. That has to change.
At this point in the ‘Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021’ there is a photograph of two gardai standing on a bridge in Cork City. This photograph was previously used to promote the concept of community policing in 2006 when the photo was taken. It doesn’t bode well that the Modernisation and Renewal Programme is using a ten year old photograph to promote change.