Lack of garda supervision ‘has worsened’

The lack of supervision of rank-and-file gardaí by sergeants — revealed in a police watchdog report — has worsened in the last year, the staff association for middle-ranking officers has said.

In a report, the Garda Inspectorate said it was “unacceptable” that sergeants were unable to supervise gardaí by accompanying them on duty because they were snowed under by bureaucracy.

The watchdog said it had identified “significant gaps in supervision at the frontline”, and that this was a particular problem for young, inexperienced gardaí.

Sergeants in charge of regular patrol units told the inspectorate that they go out with their units in the field only 10% of the time.

The Frontline Policing report called for a raft of changes to reduce the bureaucratic and court-related responsibilities of sergeants.

The document was submitted to Justice Minister Alan Shatter almost a year ago, but only published last Monday.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said they had been highlighting this problem for a long time.

“The situation, if anything, is worse,” said AGSI general secretary John Redmond. “The report said there were around 2,150 sergeants. That’s now down to around 1,850, so the situation has got worse... The fact that Garda management and the Government have sat on this report for pretty much a year says a lot.”

Mr Redmond said the Government should lift the moratorium and promote people to fill the vacancies at sergeant rank. He said the Government should also start recruiting again.

Mr Shatter said on Monday he was in discussions with Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin about lifting the recruitment embargo to allow the appointment of more sergeants and inspectors.

Trial probe

The Garda Ombudsman Commission has launched an investigation after a judge described as “disturbing” evidence given by gardaí in a trial.

Judge Alan Mitchell made the comments as he convicted Garda Drew Morgan of assaulting Derek Bradley, from Clogherhead, Co Louth, at Drogheda Garda Station two years ago.

Garda Morgan, who was sentenced to three months at Dundalk District Court last Friday, is appealing the conviction.

The prosecution was taken by the Garda Ombudsman Commission.

The court heard none of the gardaí in the small public office of the station where the incident took place in Feb 2011 said they had seen how the victim was injured.

The court heard that Mr Bradley had been detained on suspicion of drink-driving, and that at 1am on Feb 6, Garda Morgan, who was not involved in the arrest, pushed him from behind into a radiator after he asked that his handcuffs be loosened.

Judge Mitchell said some gardaí appeared to have “looked away at that moment”, had their “views blocked”, or had “hazy recollections”.

It is not clear if the investigation team will look to speak to the judge about his comments.