Locals can play ‘big role’ in drugs battle
Drugs, he said, pose a challenge to the entire community and the gardaí would not discriminate when it came to tracking down those involved.
During a day-long visit to Limerick where he was briefed on crime in the city he said: “We are making the arrests, we are doing the searches, we are seizing the illicit drugs; but it’s a challenge to us all and the community can play a big role by telling us who is supplying, who is passing on the drugs. Every time a person takes a drug, they are putting their life on the line. It’s a health issue as well as everything else.”
Taking drugs, he said, is not socially acceptable and the gardaí would target the pushers no matter what section of society they belong to.
“Whoever is involved, whoever is supplying, whoever is pushing, we will target those people regardless of what strata of society they come from. We will not discriminate, but to do that we need the information, we need the intelligence and we will act on that.”
Commissioner Murphy said that since the Fitzgerald Report on the regeneration of Southill and Moyross was published last April, huge progress had been achieved in drafting in the 100 extra gardaí called for in that report.
He said there had been a net increase of 60 gardaí in the city.
“One of the firsts things I did on becoming commissioner was to send an extra 24 people on November 21. But you can appreciate I have demands from all over the country. We are working on this and it is ongoing and we are working closely with the regeneration agencies,” he said.
Commissioner Murphy said he had been briefed on the suspicious death of mother-of-two Sylvia Roche Kelly, 33, at the Clarion Hotel at the weekend and he said he was confident the investigation would yield a successful outcome.
During the visit, Commissioner Murphy visited Southill and Moyross, accompanied by Chief Superintendent Willie Keane. They met members of the two regeneration boards appointed to implement the Fitzgerald plan as well as community leaders.
