‘Wrong not to acknowledge achievements of gardaí’

AS he prepares to set out next year’s policing priorities for the gardaí, Justice Minister Brian Lenihan addressed the Dáil yesterday on the subject of crime. The following are edited extracts:

* Crime statistics: I realise it is no consolation to someone who has been a victim of crime to point out that the chances of it happening are low. But... the crime rate per 1,000 of population dropped from 26 in 2003 to 24.5 in 2006.

In relation to recent murders... the latest figures are that since August 1, there have been 17 murders and manslaughters. Persons have been charged in respect of 13, or 76%, of these cases…

I am not at all to be taken as suggesting these crime rates are acceptable — far from it… But it would be wrong of us not to acknowledge the achievements of the gardaí.

* Antisocial behaviour: Ultimately, offenders have to pay a price for this type of behaviour. I have therefore asked my department to look at the question of what the Programme for Government refers to as community payback. This involves those who have transgressed providing real services for the communities they have damaged.

Community service orders already mean that some offenders make reparation to society generally, but we now want to examine the possibility of making a more direct connection between the offence and reparation to the community against whom the offence has been committed.

* Gun crime: There is no doubt that developments which have taken place in relation to gun crime are deeply disturbing… The reprehensible gun attack on Garda Paul Sherlock last week provided evidence of the depths to which these gangs will stoop… I have said before that the fight against the activities of gangs is going to be long and has to be relentless.

The House will be aware that Operation Anvil has been specifically directed against the activities of these gangs, particularly in Dublin.... From its beginning in May 2005 to September 9 last, 768 firearms have been recovered, 37,437 searches for drugs have taken place and over 70,000 checkpoints established...

Many of the measures contained in the recent Criminal Justice Act will inevitably take a while to have full effect and they should be given time to do so. But I have no doubt that we as legislators must always stand ready to make any further changes to our criminal laws that prove necessary... I will be bringing proposals before this House for the creation of a DNA database.

* Garda resources: It is easy to sound tough on crime. What is needed is to be tough on crime. And to do that we have to make sure that those agencies charged with tackling crime are provided with the resources they need.... Again, what the Government has been doing in this regard is a matter of public record.

The current Programme for Government re-affirms the commitment to a garda strength of 15,000, with a target date of 2010, and commits us to increasing the strength of the force further to 16,000 by 2012… The Garda budget now stands at €1.44 billion compared to just over €900m five years ago.

* Priorities for 2008: A major priority of An Garda Síochána is tackling gun crime, organised crime and drug trafficking… I intend to include in the priorities a specific reference to enhanced liaison arrangements between Garda divisions and the CriminalAssets Bureau in the pursuit of those engaged in drug dealing at all levels.

Another priority will be in the area of public order... The gardaí will be asked to co-operate with other agencies and the community generally, in initiatives to combat the problems of public disorder.

They will be asked to pay particular attention to alcohol-related misdemeanours, including underage drinking...

The priorities will also seek to increase significantly the proportion of gardaí on operational duty… An increase in the level of high-visibility patrols will be specified and this will be linked to the development during 2008 of a Garda Charter which will set out targeted response times...

* Other priorities: I propose that a number of priorities will be included relating to the expansion of the juvenile liaison scheme; the monitoring of sex offenders; combating homophobic and race crimes; co-operating with the newly established domestic violence executive agency COSC in curbing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence; targeting the use of knives in violent attacks; and taking measures to deal with the evils of human trafficking.

The priority of dealing with terrorism, both domestic and international, will of course remain.