Garda chief to launch new community policing model

THE Garda Commissioner will be in Cork city today to launch the first “community policing” model of its kind in the country.

Community policing was introduced in the city in 1988 and today there are two sergeants and 28 community gardaí working in the community policing area across the city. Over the years, they have developed links with the business community and the statutory and voluntary organisations dealing with young people, the elderly, the vulnerable, and the marginalised.

A community safety forum has been established in each of the city’s four Garda districts, and each forum is supported by a community safety unit. They work with the city council, forming the backbone of community policing.

In January, senior Garda management unveiled a new national standard for this kind of policing. But because so much work had been done on the ground in Cork city, it was chosen as the first location in the country to achieve the National Model of Community Policing standard.

Commissioner Fachtna Murphy will officially launch the project in City Hall later. “This new model builds on the success of existing good community policing practice and aims to create a policing environment where collaborative ‘partnerships’ are fostered between An Garda Síochána and the community in order to find local solutions to local problems and increase safety and security in our society,” he said.

The approach has over the years resulted in projects like Neighbourhood Watch, Community Alert, Campus Watch, Coastal Watch, Hospital Watch, Business Watch, and the Garda Schools Programme. The launch takes place in City Hall and will be hosted by the Lord Mayor, Cllr Dara Murphy, who has been the chairman of the Joint Policing Committee in Cork city for the last two years.