Reserve Garda force deserve our support

THE move to widen and strengthen the powers and duties of over 1,124 volunteers in the Garda Reserve is a positive and welcome development for policing at a time when the image of the Garda Síochána in general is tarnished.

This should be a valuable aid to members of the full-time force, which is undermanned and overstretched, by relieving them to concentrate more on the business of tackling serious crime while volunteers deal with time-consuming lesser offences.

Effectively, the decision taken by Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, who has the full backing of Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald for this radical initiative, will greatly extend the powers of the reserves by enabling them to issue penalty points, serve summons to motorists and seize vehicles. When going on duty they will also be issued with TETRA radios, a key component of the national digital radio service used by the gardaí, giving them security against unlawful eavesdropping by criminal elements.