There was a story in the Echo recently about how a former Cork City Lord Mayor, Des Cahill, had a moment of enlightenment on his way to work one morning. While entering the city hall through the car park, he spotted a guy on the stairwell who appeared to be acting suspiciously.
As he got closer, he realised that it was a guy preparing to inject himself with heroin. He was surprised, especially as it was only 11am but he called security and they dealt with the issue. He said it is regrettable that drug use is creeping into daily life in Cork and presenting a public hazard.
While he felt sorry for the guy, he also had a responsibility to the public who are being put at risk. He said that drug use has become part of modern life in Cork and the resulting hazardous waste is posing a threat to the public.
He was worried about the damage open drug use could be having on our city’s image. On another occasion, he spotted a couple preparing heroin close to Oliver Plunkett Street at the very moment some tourists walked by.
Mr. Cahill is worried. So am I, but the most worrying aspect of this story for me is that he’s only becoming aware of this issue now. This is 2018 and addicts shooting up heroin on the streets of Cork has been going on for a long time.
Drug use in public spaces around the city has been an issue for many years and finding discarded needles and other drug paraphernalia in the streets, parks and playgrounds has been highlighted regularly for more than ten years at least.
In 2010, while I was responsible for community policing in Cork City, I approached the main stake holders working with those with addiction issues. I set up a group with representatives from An Garda Siochana, Cork Simon, HSE, Cork Drugs Task Force and Cork City Council. I had hoped that with the knowledge and expertise available around the table that we might formulate a plan to provide a safe injecting centre with the necessary support services available to the users.
This group was very positive and met monthly for a couple of years. I retired since, so I have no idea if this group is still in existence, but I doubt it, given the current state of community policing nationally. The initiative was started because of the obvious need but maybe Cllr. Cahill was never informed. The fact that he is shocked at the current state of drug use in Cork doesn’t fill me with hope for the future.
Another issue that was highlighted recently was the rise in anti-social behaviour. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan insisted An Garda Siochana was tackling the issue “head-on”. The Department of Justice said addressing the concerns of communities was a key focus for the Garda. He said that the Government remained committed to ensuring gardai have the necessary resources to tackle “all forms of criminality in our communities”.
Bus Eireann has expressed concern about stone throwing incidents at buses in Munster which can lead to services being suspended or diverted. Shane Ross said that the “safety and security of passengers and staff is of paramount importance”. He has asked officials to engage with transport companies to combat anti-social behaviour and he will be discussing the matter with Mr Flanagan.
These concerned politicians are outraged and promising to make things better but unfortunately, it amounts to nothing more than hot air and a few fancy sound bites for the media.
Even though I’m now retired, it still frustrates me to hear the likes of Charlie Flanagan and Shane Ross spouting nonsense about resourcing and supporting the gardai. It infuriates me when I hear the Department of Justice suggesting that addressing the concerns of communities is a key focus for the Garda and promising that all resources will be made available to them. That’s what they said when they disbanded community policing.
Community policing had many strands to it, but primarily it was about engaging with the public and developing relationships within the various communities. Many of us spent 20 years fostering these relationships, creating trust and trying to resolve the issues affecting their daily lives.
One of these strands was the Garda Schools Programme, which introduced community gardai to primary school students. It took away the mystery of the uniform and educated them on the value and importance of the work done by gardai and the other emergency services.
We pointed out the negative aspects of damaging public transport and having buses removed from service because of broken windows caused by stone throwing and the consequences of that behaviour for their families and neighbours. They were told about looking out for the elderly, the importance of road safety and the importance of having respect for others.
This was just one small approach, but it was where relationships began with the youth in the community and as they developed into young adults, we got to know each other. When we met on street corners, we could talk to each other and it made a difference.
All that work and so much more was discarded by Martin Callinan, Noirin O’Sullivan and Francis Fitzgerald and other politicians like Charlie Flanagan who endorsed it. They decimated community policing while pretending that the community was still receiving a quality service when everyone knew that wasn’t the case.
Now Des Cahill is surprised that we have a serious addiction problem in our city and Charlie Flanagan can’t figure out why the young people are running out of control. They took away the very people who were trying to keep a lid on these issues but now they’re at a loss to figure out where it all went wrong.