War on crime - Gardaí not equipped to do their jobs

IT WOULD seem absolutely ludicrous for Justice Minister Michael McDowell to be discussing in America this week proposals to deal with violent and organised crime, when the gardaí lack the fundamental equipment to fight crime.

The minister, accompanied by the Garda Commissioner and the Secretary General of the Justice Department, need not visit the US to realise that the force badly needs proper police equipment which has been available on a worldwide basis for anything up to 20 years.

It seems that one of the minister’s ambitions was to meet Bill Bratton, the man who invented the concept of “zero tolerance” in New York in the 90s, and who is now Los Angeles Police Chief.

Presumably, it was Mr Bratton’s experience that any police force has to be adequately equipped in fighting crime at any level to be successful, which is not the case here.

Understandably, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) wants the equipment, potentially life-saving, supplied to members as quickly as possible.

This month they should have been issued with anti-stab ballistic vests, which the GRA had been requesting for years, but the order is held up in Germany. Bullet-proof vests and pepper sprays were promised to the gardaí but are still unavailable to the men and women who patrol our streets.

There is the farcical situation that 10,000 retractable batons are in stock, according to the Department of Justice, for issue “aligned with training schedule.”

This means that trainee gardaí are being trained in the use of extendable batons, although there is no schedule for the training of the rest of the force. This probably means that reservists are at this advantage as well.

At the end of this month the minister is expected to bring before the Cabinet US-style anti-racketeering laws, which are apparently similar to American legislation used to focus on the mafia.

In this context, and Ireland’s problems caused by violent crimes, they have been meeting police chiefs and undoubtedly their experience in this field of crime is invaluable.

However, it need hardly be pointed out that despite the high incidence of violent crime in the country, most people are worried about the level of crime in their neighbourhoods.

This, generally speaking, is not the violence of gun crime, but everyday criminality which gardaí are not adequately equipped to deal with and protect themselves against.

Yet assurances have been forthcoming from the minister and the Garda Commissioner that there is nothing absent from the resources of the gardaí to deal with criminals.

This is patently not so.

In their criticism of equipment, the GRA is supported by an independent report by University of Limerick health and safety expert, Dr Thomas Garavan.

As far back as 2004 he found that the gardaí were highly under-equipped for their frontline.

The people of this country do not want to see an armed police force patrolling the streets, but it is vital that they are not fighting crime in the community at a distinct disadvantage, as they are at the moment.

According to the Department of Justice it is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner to commission the equipment, and he should do so without any further demur.