Surveillance in the spotlight

HALF joking, half serious, one experienced detective tackling a violent gang war in south Dublin described them as the “black ops” of the force.

Now the little-known Garda National Surveillance Unit (NSU) is being placed under a spotlight it may not be used to, or comfortable with.

The unit was formed in the mid-90s out of two separate units, the Crime Special Surveillance Unit and the Crime Ordinary Surveillance Unit, dealing with subversive and serious crime respectively.