More than 1,000 complaints against gardaí in year

More than 1,170 complaints were made last year against members of An Garda Siochana, new figures released today revealed.

Around 20% of all complaints came from revellers who claim gardaí, called to break up a fight, assaulted them.

The complaints, which include abuse of authority, discourtesy, neglect of duty and discreditable conduct, were down 5% on 2004, the Garda Siochana Complaints Board found.

But radical reforms are expected to quicken the procedure and benefit all concerned.

The new Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commissioner, to be launched this year to investigate complaints against members of the force, has already been allocated €10m.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell also revealed gardaí can be investigated even after retirement.

Mr McDowell said it was important that all officers faced the complaints made against them.

Board Chairman Doctor Gordon Holmes said: “There are a huge number of complaints made to us from incidents after closing time.”

From a total of 1,173 recorded complaints, 269 were withdrawn, 50 were resolved informally, 51 minor breaches were referred to the Garda Commissioner and 23 serious breaches of discipline were dealt with by a tribunal board.

He said people who take umbrage from their arrest think the Gardaí are an easy target to blame for their injuries despite fighting after a night out. He said many of those complaints were found to be inadmissible.

Dr Holmes admitted he had in the past dealt with “an extremely worrying” complaint against an officer which caused him great personal concern, but the matter was adjourned and the Garda retired without facing any disciplinary action.

He also expressed concern over cases when officers had omitted statements and then passed on files to the complaints board and their DPP.

“I have made it quite clear we haven’t had enough powers,” added Dr Holmes.

“The minister decided very wisely to bring in these powers and decided to give them to a new body.”

He called for greater speed in the compiling of reports.

Mr McDowell said over the next few weeks he would be dealing with the issue of judicial review and delays in relation to Garda discipline and complaints against An Garda Siochana.

He said: “There is a very serious problem if members of the public have a system available to them and the resolution of their complaint is postponed to the end of an extremely lengthy process over which they have no control.

“The new regime will be one in which the choice will lie with the new ombudsman as to whether it wants to use its own investigators, use Garda investigators under its own supervision or use Garda investigators to carry out an investigation of its own. They will certainly have more firepower.”