Gardaí test new ‘call centre’ system

THE garda authorities are testing a new communications strategy to keep patrols out on the beat and away from behind the station desk.

The Limerick garda division, it was revealed yesterday, has been chosen for a pilot whereby patrols phone in reports to a call centre in Castlebar, operated by the Department of Justice, while out on patrol.

The new system has just been introduced in Limerick and it is planned to roll it out in the Cork and Kerry garda divisions in the new year.

Under current procedures, gardaí have to file reports of various incidents they deal with when they return to their stations at the end of a roster.

This means gardaí leave the beat hours before a roster ends to input reports into the “Pulse” system.

In rural districts gardaí often have to travel 20 miles or more to access the nearest Pulse.

The Garda Commissioner has chosen the Limerick division to trial test the new direct input system whereby incidents are inputted to the Pulse system while the gardaí are on the beat.

Chief Supt Willie Keane, head of the Limerick garda division, said the pilot has already yielded huge benefits during the test period.

Chief Supt Keane said: “Each member of the force in the Limerick division is given a mobile phone when going out on patrol. If they deal with an incident, they record it, but can ring in their report of the incident, there and then, to a special dedicated number in Castlebar. This allows the garda to remain out on duty on the street for the entire tour of duty on any given day, without having to head back to a station early in order to input reports.”

Chief Supt Keane said: “If people see gardaí in Limerick on the phone, they are not making private calls, but are phoning in reports to the Castlebar centre. Heretofore in Limerick, gardaí when called to a burglary or a theft from a car had to come back to the station and physically input the report. We were conscious that this was taking our people off the street. Limerick was picked as we have the city and a vast rural area to police. We are testing it before it is rolled out in January and February to Cork and Kerry. It’s to keep gardaí out on patrol.”

He said it is also proving an invaluable management tool as a garda superintendent can get a complete, immediate update on what is happening in an entire district with incidents being inputted, via the Castlebar call centre, within minutes of being investigated.

Chief Supt Keane said the new system is also proving invaluable in rural areas.

“With this we can keep our people out there during the entirety of a shift, and stay out there. A patrol car may have to travel miles to a district headquarters or a station with the Pulse to file reports. Now they use their mobile phones to file reports of incidents as they deal with them and they can stay out on patrol for the entirety of a tour of duty.”