Armed Garda response units to tackle crime

ARMED Garda response units are to be set up this year as part of a Garda crackdown on crime.

An additional 15 senior investigation officers are to be deployed across the country and more gardaí will target the assets of drug dealers and crime bosses.

There will also be an initiative targeting public disorder this year, including a high-profile campaign against knife attacks.

Targets under the Garda Policing Plan for 2008, published yesterday, include:

* 5% increase in Operation Anvil firearm prevention patrols.

* 5% rise in intelligence-led operations against drug, gun and human trafficking networks as well as street-level drug dealers.

* 20% increase in the number of trained divisional criminal assets profilers.

* 2% reduction in high-volume crime.

As part of the crackdown, the force will set up “second-tier firearm response units” to provide back-up to local armed detectives. The plan said all gardaí authorised to carry firearms will receive tactical training this year. Garda associations have previously complained at what they say is the poor level of firearms training, mainly due to the lack of firing centres.

The policing plan said a national crime reduction and prevention strategy would commence in the final quarter of 2008. This is a year later than originally stated in the 2007 policing plan. The 2008 plan said crime scene investigation teams will be established in each division by the third quarter of the year. It said Garda preparations for the long-promised DNA database would be completed in the third quarter.

Community gardaí will also be used to monitor the movements of sex offenders.

The 2008 plan promises a range of initiatives targeting public disorder, including a 10% rise in targeted public order patrols and a 15% rise in arrests for such incidents.

It said a “marketing campaign” would be launched in the second quarter aimed at those carrying knives, and prosecutions under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act would rise.

The plan aimed for a 5% reduction in assaults and criminal damage.

In road safety, the force intends to increase the number of detections for drink driving and speeding by 10% and non-wearing of seatbelts by 5%. The Traffic Corps would be increased to 1,200 officers this year.

In relation to terrorism, the force is to develop a national critical infrastructure security plan. Garda divisions are also being changed to correspond more closely with local authority boundaries.

Garda divisions are being created for Meath, Kildare and Wicklow in the eastern region, in Waterford, Wexford and Carlow/Kilkenny in the south-eastern region, Galway and Roscommon/Longford in the western region and Louth in the northern region.