Welcome for Garda plan on domestic violence

Women’s Aid has welcomed measures in the Garda Policing Plan 2018 aimed at addressing problems in the recording and investigation of domestic violence.

Gardaí will make technical changes to allow crimes associated with domestic violence — from criminal damage to assault — to be tagged domestic abuse- related and to develop both a risk-assessment tool and a call-back system in such cases.

The policing plan outlines a range of other initiatives, including:

• A performance evaluation system for all gardaí;
• Definition of hate crime and procedures to record it, backed up by a national campaign to encourage people from minority groups to report it;
• Reducing recorded assaults by 5% and refocusing Operation Thor from burglary to preventing assaults, robberies, and other violent crime;
• Technological investment, including a national computer-aided dispatch system and an investigation management system;
• Holding training exercises for terrorist attacks or natural disasters in each of the country’s eight emergency regions;
• Action plan to recruit from minority groups.

There are a series of domestic violence measures, including updating the Garda Pulse system to support recording of domestic violence as a modus operandi feature by June.

Other actions include a risk-assessment tool for domestic violence and sexual crime, increased reporting of domestic abuse, a dedicated inspector in every division, and a mechanism to measure call-backs to victims.

A review is under way of the four divisional protective services units and plans for the rollout of more in 2019 will be developed. A review of domestic homicide cases, which started in 2016, will continue.

“The plan to enhance data quality is really good as the gardaí do need investment in this area,” said Margaret Martin, director of Women’s Aid.

She said the PSNI has been collecting this data for 10 years.

“For years they have been tagging what crimes have a domestic violence MO, so this is a really good development,” she said, adding that, as well as providing robust data, it would improve Garda practice.

“We find a range of responses, from the very good to the very poor,” she said. “When there’s a call out, some gardaí will say they can’t do anything unless there is an order in place, but very often they can, for criminal damage or assault.”

Ms Martin said the risk-assessment tool is important and should be a “triple assessment”, first by the call taker, then by the responding garda, and thirdly when the case is handed over to a garda specialist.

She said the “call back” plan was also important and they were already hearing of it being done.

In the foreword to the plan, acting Garda commissioner Dónall O Cualáin said it “will take considerable time” to progress many of the structural and cultural reforms needed”.

He said that a “high-level team” had been set up on Brexit.

In relation to responding to firearms incidents, a critical and firearms incident command will be set up in Dublin.

Two regional cyber forensic examination units would be set up by year’s end and the first phase of a new community policing system would begin.