Garda crisis in the area of human rights
Dr Maurice Manning, president of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said there needed to be a “full realisation” within the force just how much damage had been done to its reputation. “There is a crisis, the extent of it shouldn’t be minimised and a revolution of human rights would be one essential step.”
Speaking at a conference, Policing in a Multi-Ethnic Society, Dr Manning warned there would be opposition within the force to change. “There will be resistance and it will come in many shapes, some subtle, a lot less so. That’s the experience of every police force.”
He told the conference, organised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Amnesty, that there needed to be a strong ombudsman.
“There is a task of purging the force, that’s needed and essential. There must be a well-resourced and very determined ombudsman.”
He said that, unless the justice minister and the Garda Commissioner believe that what they are doing was right, the initiative will “go nowhere.”
He said there had to be “rigorous ongoing external assessment” of the police reform and said the HRC would be monitoring the process very carefully. George Rhoden, chairman of the Metropolitan Black Police Association in London, warned that the recruitment of ethnic minorities into the gardaí would be cosmetic unless other measures were put in place.
“Is the gardaí ready for such change? Is the gardaí ready to accept difference, ready to appreciate difference, ready to manage difference? If not, then recruitment is only going to be a cosmetic exercise. You’ll be dealing with litigation after litigation until you have learned the lesson.”
He said it was crucial that police and instructors were made aware of what was happening and to prepare them.
“What support mechanisms are in place for people who come into the service? Where can they turn to talk to others if they have a problem? If you haven’t got a mechanism you haven’t got retention, you won’t retain those officers.”
A number of speakers told the conference that there was a poor relationship between gardaí and Travellers and other ethnic minorities. They said that up to a fifth of the country’s 145 ethnic liaison officers were working as immigration officers and were sometimes involved in deportations, undermining efforts to build trust with minority communities.
Chief Supt Pat Cregg of the Garda Community Relations Section said he was taking these concerns on board.
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