New security norms: Alarm bell rings

Every society in every time gets a warning that something may be wrong, that something we regard as almost impossible may be about to happen. 

The deeply shocking picture from Liverpool, Ohio, some months ago that showed a man and a woman had collapsed, because of a drug overdose, in the front seats of a 4x4 as their grandchild looked on from a baby seat behind them was one.

That image led to a chilling documentary but whether it changes the fundamentals in what a policeman contributing to that documentary described as “a lost battle” remains to be seen.

It also remains to be seen if the security measures described by Limerick state solicitor Michael Murray, who is about to retire, become the norm. He had steel doors and bullet-proof windows installed in his office.

He described his office as The Panic Room. These are just a fraction of the security measures he was forced to undertake during a 27-year career because of what he described as increasingly savage criminals.

As warnings go this is as good, as challenging, as any.