Gardaí the last buffer before ‘barbarianism’

A leading criminologist said the Government can significantly reduce crime by introducing mandatory minimum jail terms for murder and unlawful killings.

He told gardaí they were the only buffer left in Ireland “between chaos and order, between civilisation and barbarianism”.

John O’Keeffe also suggested alcohol abuse could be tackled by introducing US-style drunk tanks. The Trinity College Dublin lecturer yesterday told delegates at the Garda Representative Association conference in Athlone, Co Westmeath, that the Government could easily make the country a far safer place to live in and save millions of euro into the bargain.

“They can introduce legislation that will ensure minimum mandatory sentences for lengthy periods for a range of offences.

“There is no one in Ireland who believes three to five years is sufficient time to serve for manslaughter. Mandatory minimum sentencing will achieve justice for victims.”

He said concurrent sentencing should be abandoned in most cases and the revolving door system in prisons firmly shut.

He also said Minister for Justice Alan Shatter was making a mistake by closing Garda stations. “It will destabilise society. It’s a false economy. The best way to police is for law enforcers to be with the community they serve.” Alcohol was involved in 97% of all public order offences which seriously tied up Garda resources, especially at weekends, he said.

In the USA, he said, police deposited intoxicated people in “drunk tanks” where they were stripped, hosed down, and then charged €80 before being freed.

“Governments in other countries have a zero tolerance for public drunkenness and so should we. Cutting alcohol abuse would cut crime drastically.”

He said the country was “hurtling down the world league table when it comes to police per head of population”. People were better served in Argentina, Belarus, and most EU countries, he said.

“And even the UK, which historically had lower [police] numbers than us, will now have more per head of population despite savage cuts to policing there,” the guest speaker said.