Garda pulse system in the dock

The accuracy of the PULSE Garda system when it comes to recording court convictions has been seriously questioned by a Mayo solicitor, writes Tom Shiel.

Ballinrobe-based Cathy McDarby claims the system, which cost €61 million to put in place, ‘is simply not fit for purpose’.

In recent times, Ms. McDarby has highlighted to District Court Judge Mary Devins instances where ‘crime convictions have not been recorded correctly’.

Previous convictions are taken into account when a judge is sentencing a person for a crime for which he or she has just been found guilty. Therefore any error in the recording of sentences can have very serious implications for a defendant – it could, for instance, mean they end up in prison.

Ms. McDarby suggested at a sitting of Castlebar court that the computer system PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively) should be retired.

There were too many errors as regards convictions, she maintained, adding: “Courts are being provided with information from a broken system.”

Ms. McDarby continued: “PULSE does not record convictions correctly.
“There are situations where errors are being made. People can have one or more PULSE IDs.”

Commenting in court on Ms. McDarby’s claims, Garda Inspector Mandy Gaynor said that to throw a blanket over every conviction would be very unfair.

The inspector added: “PULSE may not be perfect but every case should be dealt with on an individual basis if and when a situation arises in relation to a previous conviction.”

Judge Devins advised that the accuracy of PULSE ‘should be raised (in court) every time’.