Garda Commissioner seeks laws to protect on-duty gardaí from prosecution

Garda Commissioner added that drones will also be used by gardaí in everyday policing by the end of this year or the start of 2027. File picture: Niall Carson/PA

Laws are needed to protect gardaí from prosecutions when in the line of duty, Commissioner Justin Kelly said after a garda was convicted of dangerous driving in Dublin District Court, after he pursued two masked scrambler bikers while on duty.

A Garda drone unit has also been established which will be used to pursue criminals by the end of this year, Mr Kelly said.

Scrambler bikes are to be banned in public places this week under Grace’s Law — called after 16-year-old Grace Lynch, who was killed when she was hit by a scrambler bike while crossing a road in Dublin.

Gardaí and emergency service workers must feel protected and should operate under different thresholds to civilians while at work, Mr Kelly told the media at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) annual conference in Mayo yesterday.

He said: “It certainly does not appear to me to be right that the same threshold is applied to a member of the Garda Síochána who goes through a red light with blue lights and sirens on, is responding to a call for service, a really serious call for service, and he’s involved in a collision, and that is treated the exact same way as if you and I, off duty, crashed through a red light because of bad driving.”

Mr Kelly has already spoken to the Department of Justice and the justice minister about the issue.

He has tasked Catharina Gunne, assistant commissioner of roads policing and community engagement, to devise a proposal that should be sent “quite soon” to the Department of Justice.

Gardaí need to feel protected at work so they can do their job properly, he said.

The case of the garda prosecuted for his driving for pursuit of scrambler bikes has “crystallised some of the issues” around pursuit, Mr Kelly said.

Additionally, the Garda commissioner said Pursuit training is now going to be re-examined.

Mr Kelly added that drones will also be used by gardaí in everyday policing by the end of this year or the start of 2027.

“We have dedicated people now who are working with drones,” he said. “We have drones within the organisation.”

Mr Kelly visited the New York Police Department’s drone unit recently “and saw how effectively they’re using drones there”.

“And this isn’t just for specialist work,” he said.

“This is in day-to-day work involving things like pursuits, public order. We see a lot of potential in it for us.”

Drones can be stationed in police stations across the country which can be deployed “really quickly” to an incident. “They provide real-time support for officers on the ground,” Mr Kelly said.

Counter drones will also be used separately, especially during the upcoming EU presidency, a position in which Ireland takes in July and will see many international leaders visit Ireland for EU Council talks.

A “lot of work” has already been done for drone use ahead of the EU presidency, Mr Kelly said.

Garda pursuits are “a crisis area” and will only worsen now that a garda has been convicted, warned Kevin Bolger, deputy general secretary of AGSI.

He said that the situation is creating a “fearful environment” that will harm policing.

Mr Bolger added that drone technology would seriously help gardaí in instances of pursuit, but they have not had access to this equipment.

Every garda car should have a drone in it, Mr Bolger said.

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