AGSI: Drew Harris is doing 'best he can' with scarce resources

Earlier this week, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris directed uniform gardaí to conduct 30 minutes of 'high visibility roads policing' per shift. Picture: PA

Frontline Garda supervisors have said Garda Commissioner Drew Harris was doing the “best he can” in deploying scarce Garda resources into roads policing to combat rising traffic deaths.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said the underlying problem was insufficient garda numbers, directly caused by a recruitment and retention crisis, which the Government had “not addressed”.

The staff body said, because of this, Garda resources were being deployed “reactively” to situations, such as public and political concerns over rising road deaths, as opposed to “proactively”, based on planning and sufficient resources.

The comments follow the decision by the commissioner on Thursday afternoon to direct all uniform members to conduct 30 minutes of “high visibility roads policing” as part of their daily shift.

Former head of the Garda traffic bureau, John O’Brien, said it was clear there was a “major crisis” in terms of garda numbers, but said the direction “made no sense” and was “ad hoc”, rather than based on a “strategic approach to road safety enforcement”.

He claimed that the commissioner announced the measure as a “diversionary tactic” to prevent “adverse comment” in the RTÉ Prime Time programme on road policing on Thursday night, on which Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, the head of roads policing, appeared.

Road Safety Authority (RSA) chairwoman Liz O’Donnell said on Wednesday that there needed to be a significant ramping up of visible enforcement to combat bad driver behaviour.

She said: "It's the missing link. It's what we need. Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement."

Ms O’Donnell said while a 20% increase in GoSafe speed cameras last year was welcome, another 20% was required this year.

The strength of the Roads Policing Bureau, formerly the Traffic Corps, fell by 17% in the last 10 years, from 804 members in 2013 to 664 at the end of 2023.

In response to queries from the Irish Examiner on Thursday, Garda HQ said the commissioner had told his senior managers to direct all uniform members to conduct 30 minutes of roads policing during their shifts.

Mr Harris said that, despite the work of gardaí to try and address driver behaviour and given the rise in fatal road traffic collisions, the organisation had to continue to adapt policing initiatives to increase safety on the roads.

He said international police forces use all police officers to focus an element of their shift in the traffic environment and that this approach complemented increased visibility and compliance by motorists with road traffic legislation. The commissioner said: 

Therefore, with immediate effect, each regional assistant commissioner will utilise all uniform personnel, core and non-core, deploying them on high-visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes’ duration in each tour of duty. 

“Supervisors will ensure compliance with this direction, with the exception of where exigencies of the service arise.” 

Responding, the AGSI said in a statement the deployment of resources was a matter for the Garda Commissioner.

“However, AGSI will say that frontline resources is a major challenge coupled with the demands of desk-based work on our members [sergeants and inspectors] is well documented by us," it said.

“The commissioner is trying to counteract the increase in road deaths with the deployment of scarce resources as best he can — the underlying problem is the commissioner does not have sufficient resources available which is a direct result of a recruitment and retention crisis which Government have not addressed despite repeated warnings.” 

It added: “Resources are then being deployed reactively as opposed to proactively.” 

Justice Minister Helen McEntee and the RSA have welcomed the commissioner’s directive.

In response to public comments criticising the commissioner’s initiative, Garda HQ said it was one of a range of measures it was introducing as part of the Government’s road safety initiative.

“This model of policing has been adapted from the Swedish road safety strategy," it said in a statement. 

"Their strategy has successfully halved the number of deaths on their roads since the turn of the last millennium. Sweden is widely viewed as a world leader in terms of road safety.

“The guiding principles of this initiative stem from the ‘Cooper Curve’ in the USA which shows the static presence of a police officer in a location for a period of 15 minutes can increase crime prevention for a period of four to six hours thereafter.

"By adapting this model towards roads policing in Sweden, research has shown the visible presence of a police officer collectively alters driver behaviour and reduces speed, which in turn plays a vital role in reducing fatal or serious injury road traffic collisions."