Not enough staff for back-to-basics policing, says AGSI

A Garda representative body praised a new "back-to-basics" community policing system — but warned staff and resources were not there to implement proposals to extend it.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said the Small Areas Policing Programme — which has been piloted in Dublin’s north inner city — was due to be rolled out in the coming months across Dublin, and possibly nationally.

The initiative involves allocating a certain area to a designated garda who visits all residents, addresses problems, and monitors local crime trends. It has been piloted for the last two years under chief superintendent Pat Leahy, and has attracted praise from both interim Garda commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

“It’s going back to the way we used to police, where a garda has a certain beat, a certain area,” said AGSI president Tim Galvin. “You get to know the area and the people. If anything happens they know to come to you. It’s back-to-basics policing and it is a good initiative by the local chief superintendent, Pat Leahy. He’s been piloting the system the last two years.

“It’s being introduced across Dublin in the next couple of months and then they are looking at it nationally.”

However, there was a big problem: “The problem is the numbers — the staff and the resources — aren’t there,” said Mr Galvin.

Garda staffing levels are under the 13,000 minimum laid down under the previous Garda boss, Martin Callinan.

Mr Galvin said retirement numbers were running, on average, at around 25 a month. In addition, he said 137 gardaí were leaving on incentivised career breaks of three years. On top of that again, gardaí — in uniformed and detective units — were constrained under new roster arrangements, although Mr Galvin said Ms O’Sullivan had started discussions on this issue following staff concerns.

Mr Galvin said the biggest challenge for the new system would be in rural areas, where houses and people are so far apart.

He said another major issue was the amount of bureaucracy that middle-managers, such as sergeants and inspectors, as well as superintendents, have to contend with.

“The administrative burden is crippling us,” said Mr Galvin. “You never get out of the station; you are desk-bound.”

Commenting on the Small Areas Policing Programme at an Oireachtas committee meeting last month, Ms O’Sullivan said: “In terms of the principles and level of engagement the small area policing project brings, we will certainly review that and look at rolling it out into both urban and rural communities.

“It is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We will certainly have the programme reviewed towards the end of this year.”

Last month, she said: “The Government is very supportive of this new initiative and approach to policing. We will see how this precise model works before we could consider extending it.”