‘Use imaginative’ punishments to fight rural crime
Muintir na Tíre said this meant more than just imprisoning criminals — and included electronic tagging of offenders, curfews, travel restrictions and community service.
It wants all garda districts to join Muinter na Tire’s community alert system — claiming where they do crime rates are lower.
Addressing the Oireachtas Justice Committee, they urged politicians to think creatively, such as:
- Seizing vehicles of criminals who use their cars in robberies and burglaries.
- Taking their driver’s licence off them.
- Making Free Legal Aid a repayable loan.
- Cutting entitlements to solicitors and barristers under the scheme.
Diarmuid Cronin, community development officer at the group, said sentencing was “probably the most difficult area” to make changes.
“We need to be more imaginative: follow the money,” he said. “If an individual has finances, property, a vehicle, there are ways and means of punishing him, by sequestering his assets.
“If a criminal carries out crimes across the country and he has a vehicle — seize the vehicle. If he has a driving licence, take the licence off him. If he has passport, limit his opportunity to enjoy his ill-gotten gains in Spain or wherever.
“If he has property and it changes hand, that loans for Free Legal Aid in course of his life is paid back.”
Mr Cronin pointed out that many criminals apprehended in recent years for metal theft were on disability allowance, and that their partners were receiving carer’s allowance.
He also called for electronic tagging and said security companies should be able to monitor offenders.
Mr Cronin, a member of Cork Joint Policing Committee, said where community alerts and gardaí were working well, “you have low crime rates”.
This said this is where district meetings were held religiously, where a relationship is built up between the community and gardaí, and where information is two-way. He said in Mallow, North Cork, there were 22 burglaries in the month of September, but that in the entire West Cork division (including districts of Bandon, Clonakilty, Bantry and Macroom and parts of Kanturk) there were just 12, and 11 in October.
Niall Garvey, Muintir na Tíre chief executive, said they had 600 groups, with some 100,000 people, registered with community alert and a million texts had been sent through the text alert system.
He said that while rural crime should be highlighted, it should not be “overhyped” as the fear of crime “can be almost as harmful” as the real thing.
He called for a special committee on rural crime and wanted a review of the Free Legal Aid scheme and a review of resource allocation, with a greater emphasis on prevention. He said there should also be a review of antisocial behaviour in estates and villages.
