The politics of crime: you may feel safer if you take the long view

THE prospect of another long and expensive tribunal loomed this week after it appeared that Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne was allegedly to blame for the dramatic rise in crime last year.

The startling suggestion that the commissioner might have been personally responsible for the increased productivity of the villains, or that he was out mugging and pillaging himself, emerged at the Dáil Justice Committee hearing on Tuesday.

The feisty Fine Gael justice spokesman, John Deasy, remarked the commissioner's performance wasn't up to scratch, and that since the man laden down with the most braid in the force had taken up his post, crime had increased in every category.

It must have been a great feeling sitting opposite the commissioner and having him help with enquiries. It's a wonder the young TD didn't ask him to blow into anything, just for the craic.

Having thrown the book at him about soaring crime figures, and enquiring as to what he intended to do about it, the deputy asked the commissioner: "Can you tell us why you should retain your post as commissioner? You have been there for quite a few years."

I'm sure the most senior long arm of the law felt like reaching out and strangling one of the most junior representatives of the people, but instead he just reacted angrily. The commissioner said Mr Deasy had not checked his facts and suggested he was just being facetious.

Quite rightly, the braid said he was appointed in 1996 and in the first four years of his tenure in the Phoenix Park garda headquarters, not Aras an Uachtarán headline crimes had dropped from 100,000 to 73,000 in 2000.

Unfortunately for the commissioner, he had to admit that since then, the crime rate had increased. It seems that headline crime had increased by 18% in 2001 but, he explained, according to experts it was best to judge crime figures over a three to five-year period.

So, sometime between now and 2004, or maybe 2006, the danger of you being mugged or burgled may be declining. But, then, that probably depends on which expert you listen to, and whether being mugged or burgled is a "headline" crime.

Commissioner Byrne said that he always maintained that since the gardaí should not take all the credit for the decrease in the crime figures, they therefore could not be entirely blamed for the recent increase in the figures.

I don't know whether he was being facetious or not, but any time there was ever anything like a rumour of a decrease in crime, headline or otherwise, who do you think took the credit? Whose job is it to be responsible for a decrease in the rate of crime?

It would be fair to presume that the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice would have the odd chat with each other to make sure they are singing from the same hymn sheet, at least on major issues, such as terrorism, which presumably comes under the category of headline crime. But apparently, they don't.

Commissioner Byrne, who should know, told the Dáil Justice Committee that the country was not under any particular threat from international terrorism. The gardaí were interacting on a daily basis with police and security services across Europe.

From dealing with the Troubles, the gardaí had learned a lot about dealing with international security agencies. Hopefully, they learned a bit about dealing with international terrorism as well.

Osama bin Laden is not a clear and present danger to Mother Ireland, it would seem.

Not so, according to Minister for Justice Michael McDowell. In fact, the Minister stated categorically that this country faced a significant threat from international extremists, and evidence suggested that the country has already been used as a base for international terrorism.

He might let the Commissioner know about that, because he should know what the gardaí are expected to do with the new powers the Minister is giving them to clamp down on terrorism.

The Criminal Justice Terrorist Offences Bill, among other things, makes it an offence to assist or finance a terrorist organisation, although I'm not sure if Fianna Fáil comes under that.

The Commissioner's assurances that there is no local cumann of al-Quaida in Drumcondra, or anywhere else, may stem from sheer ignorance, at least if you believe the Minister.

There is evidence, he said, to suggest that the country had been used as a base (by terrorist groups) without the knowledge of the authorities for some time now, which was a less than subtle dig at the gardaí.

"That is to be expected because we are a small, open liberal state with laws which are by no means repressive, and we have a regime here that does not keep tabs on everyone," declared the Minister.

First of all, you would imagine that in a small and open state, it would be easier for the gardaí to keep tabs on terrorist groups, especially with their "daily interaction with police and security services across Europe," of which the Commissioner is so proud.

Secondly, most people would find it rather odd that the Minister for Justice would consider it "to be expected" that the country could be used by terrorist groups without the knowledge of the

gardaí. A suggestion about keeping the gardaí on track in relation to something else which should appeal to most people came from Maurice Manning, head of the Irish Human Rights Commission. It is that we need a police Ombudsman to handle complaints about the Garda.

While the IHRC has welcomed proposals for a full independent three-person Garda inspectorate made by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, they don't think it has gone far enough a reservation which is widely held.

In fact, the need for an ombudsman was graphically illustrated when so many of our police force did not take at all kindly to an inquiry into the shenanigans in Dame Street during the Reclaim the Streets free-for-all.

What I like about the proposals from the Human Rights Commission is that they would see the ombudsman with the same powers of arrest as a member of the gardaí, and an independent right to conduct an investigation without a formal complaint.

The Commission also wants full protection of the due process rights of gardaí charged with inappropriate or potentially criminal behaviour, and a reformed complaints tribunal which would process complaints referred to it after an investigation by the ombudsman.

Finally, and nothing at all to do with the foregoing, it was about time that the Department of Foreign Affairs came to the same conclusion as the rest of us did a long time ago about the Ulster Unionist Party.

A document from the department "found" during a press conference in Farmleigh House described the UUP as a "dysfunctional" party.

What else is new?

Hope you all have a lovely and peaceful Christmas.