Tracking crime online - Building bridges

For all sorts of reasons beyond the reach of the majority of gardaí the reputation of our police force is not what it should be or what anyone wants it to be. 

Ensnared in shabby controversies over penalty points and allegations of bugging the office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission — allegations that were unfounded — the force’s reputation took an unprecedented and undesirable battering.

In that light any measure that might help restore the force to the central role it should play in this society is to be welcomed and encouraged.

An EU directive on victims’ rights may provide just such an opportunity. Garda chiefs are to consider introducing an online facility whereby people could track the progress of any investigation into a crime committed against them.

This idea would have many benefits, not least of all for a force that needs to change its culture of insularity and wagon-circling unacceptable . Indeed, it seems a near perfect antidote the difficulties straining the relationship between citizens and their police force.