More training needed for garda units dealing with victims of sexual and domestic violence
The introduction of a questionnaire in the northwest for victims of domestic violence has resulted in helping gardaí to bring stronger cases against offenders,
Face-to-face training is needed for gardaí in units dealing with victims of sexual and domestic violence needs.
That is the call from Sergeant Michael Bracken from the Cavan-Monaghan garda division. He was speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors in Killarney, which concludes this afternoon.
Sgt Bracken said that more and more people are now making reports to gardaí about domestic violence, and that the Divisional Protective Service Units (DPSUs) have not yet been fully trained.
He said: “We've done this online training, which really isn't a replacement for face-to-face training. I suppose Covid has slowed that down a bit. But I'm in training in Cavan-Monaghan and I have my classes back with my probationers and students since last August and I've been down on courses.
He said there is a lot of pressure on DPSU members and he said: “It’s something we have to get right because the victims, they are particularly vulnerable. And while we push ourselves out as experts, we are experts in the law but there are other things we need training in, maybe in psychological help. And I think training is important and we should push as an organisation that it's financed. I think finance plays a big part in training.”
Sgt Bracken says he has had several domestic violence calls to deal with during the pandemic where he received assistance from the DPSU.
He says: “If they have the training they can certainly do it and that's the emphasis we want. I think training needs to be front and centre. We've heard about it for a while and in our job we've had a number of reports about training but now we need to start kicking in. With next year being the 100th anniversary of the Garda, I'd like to see us coming back to where we always were; where training was front and centre."
He continued: “Because we have had so many issues with people being locked down in houses, we have males and females coming to us and we really end up acting the part of guards, solicitor, the whole lot. They want to talk to us. A lot of people want to come and get advice from us.”
He said the introduction of coercive control legislation in January 2019 through the enacting of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 was hugely important in dealing with domestic violence.
He added: “But it's important we give the right advice to people. People are much more aware of coercive control and they're coming in to us now and putting this to us. So it's very important we are giving the right answers back to them."
Sgt Bracken said the introduction of a questionnaire in the northwest area of the country for victims of domestic violence has resulted in helping gardaí to bring stronger cases against an offender, “just by sitting down and engaging with the victim with this form.”
He added: “It's helped us as well and it's been a good start. Small things like that can make a big difference to the way we do our job, and that's why training is important."
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