Garda unit to get ‘in the face’ of organised crime

GARDA Commissioner Fachtna Murphy is to create a full-time Organised Crime Unit which is set to target serious criminals.

The commissioner made the announcement yesterday and said he wanted officers in the unit to be “in the faces” of hardened criminals, tracking, arresting and bringing them before the courts. A pilot scheme was created in November 2005, but its ranks were filled by seconding officers from other Garda units.

Now the commissioner intends to establish a full-time, specialist unit to further the significant success already achieved by the pilot scheme.