Disquiet over community policing 'malaise' in east Mayo
Urgent talks taking place tomorrow with garda chief
URGENT talks are set to take place over community policing concerns in Swinford and surrounding areas.
Mayo TD Dara Calleary and local Councillor Michael Smyth are to meet with the head of the Mayo, Roscommon and Longford Garda Division, Chief Superintendent Tony Healy, tomorrow (Friday) to outline a number of issues.
Councillor Smyth has already outlined his disquiet in a letter emailed to the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, in the aftermath of a tragic incident in Swinford on November 16.
He said his letter was not a reaction to the occurrence but the culmination of ‘a widespread malaise that is affecting our community and many other communities'.
His correspondence, which has since received an acknowledgement, spelled out: “Swinford was District HQ and is now a sub-office for the traffic police. The profile given to road traffic policing has had a detrimental effect on community policing.
“You may think I am being dramatic when I say that the vast majority of people are afraid to walk the streets of Swinford on their own during the day, but especially at night.
“This is a fact and people are silent around it and uncomfortable talking about it.”
“There is something very wrong with this. People are not willing to make complaints as they fear retribution, especially when the garda who is there today is gone tomorrow.
“No doubt garda strength will show a significant number of gardaí (on the Swinford rota). However, some are retired, some are on light duties and some are on leave for a number of reasons.
“The cumulative effect of this is that I believe the actual operational capacity of the gardaí around community policing in this district is not what it should be.
“The optics of having high profile units like the traffic corps and the emergency response unit (ERU) has sadly trumped the need for valuable community policing.
“The people in my community deserve a service and they are not getting it at present.”
Deputy Calleary said members of the Oireachtas are given figures on how many gardaí are available, but when one actually drills down, the number available for community policing tends to be a very different story.
He elaborated: “That is the cause of enormous frustration for communities that cannot access basic day-to-day service at garda stations.
“There are many gardaí located in the station in Swinford, for example, but they are all allocated to the traffic corps.
“In other places they are allocated to the emergency response unit, ERU, which does not participate in community policing and so they are not available for community activities.
“It causes enormous frustration when a garda station is not available for basic services, or when anti-social behaviour cannot be tackled in towns and villages because gardaí, who might even live in the town, are elsewhere.
“The first thing we need to do is resolve exactly how many gardaí are available for community policing on a regular basis.”
While thanking An Garda Síochána for its huge work every year, he stated there are a number of crucial issues related to community safety.
He explained: “The joint policing committees, JPCs, were excellent when they were previously organised by town as well as by county but since they moved to a county basis, in line with so-called reforms by local authorities, we have lost focus and lost the ability to involve communities directly in their activity.
“We should look at JPCs and try to realign them to municipal districts in order that we can have a greater focus, as well as a greater online presence.
“Secondly, CCTV is crucial. Many communities which were previously reluctant to use it now see the value of it.
“There continue to be difficulties, however, with the hosting of CCTV between local authorities, An Garda Síochána and local garda stations.
“If the Minister and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, were to resolve that issue and give a signal to communities that their concerns about data protection and governance issues will be taken up by An Garda Síochána and local authorities, it could assist in rolling out community CCTV schemes to assist people.
“Community gardaí are doing wonderful work and building up excellent relationships. They cannot do it on their own, however.
“They need the backup and support, as well as a community budget to work with local festivals and local organisations. It will mean that they are not just there in a policing capacity but in a community-building capacity.
“We may need to go back to some basics with An Garda Síochána where gardaí actually live and raise their families in the community in which they serve.
“By doing so, they can build trust and relationships. We need to look at incentivising through the payroll, gardaí to live and share their families' time in the community. That will then build up trust. Trust is the absolute basis of any kind of community policing.
“I welcome the ongoing civilianisation process because that means we get more gardaí into communities.
“While it is tempting for the Minister and garda management to invest in the big flashy units and give them the big jeeps, big flashy uniforms and the big stations, the basis of any policing is knowledge, trust, information and relationships.
“All of those issues are formed and rooted at community level. Community policing is the foundation of An Garda Síochána.
“It deserves the investment, support and bodies that other sections in An Garda Síochána receive.”