USE THE FORCE WITHIN: Penalty Points Investigation

Employing Sgt Maurice McCabe’s talents for the betterment of the Gardaí would show that a genuine effort is being made to change the culture within the force, writes Michael Clifford

WHAT to do with a cop like Maurice McCabe? The latest revelations about abuse of the penalty points system have again thrown the Mullingar-based sergeant into the spotlight.

McCabe is, by now, the most prominent whistleblower ever to emerge from An Garda Síochána, if not the State as a whole. His revelations have had an unprecedented effect on the force and the body politic. Alan Shatter resigned as justice minister and Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan retired/resigned — both as a result, at least in part, of the manner in which they dealt with McCabe’s allegations. The Guerin Report into malpractice within the force highlighted by McCabe vindicated his actions. He has done everything by the book.

Now, months after the controversies were put to bed, and he attempted to get back to doing his job in the traffic division of the midlands’ town, he has come to prominence again. This time, McCabe found himself in something of an invidious position. The continued abuse of the system by some senior gardaí was first brought to his attention by another officer.

He had two choices. He could sit back and declare that he had done his bit and he wasn’t going to take any more flak for speaking out, or, he could investigate the matter and bring it to the attention of senior management within the force. He opted for the latter.

This won’t make for an easy life for him. Since he first began to point out wrongdoing within the force seven years ago, he has been subjected to some despicable treatment. Within the force, some of his colleagues regarded his actions as something of a betrayal of a prevailing culture.

There were efforts to discredit him: One such effort involved an attempt to blame him for the disappearance in custody of a computer seized from a priest who was subsequently convicted of sexual abuse. He had been the sergeant in charge of the station where the computer went missing, but had absolutely no part in the investigation into the priest or taking charge of the evidence.

Yet, he was dragged through a disciplinary process for the best part of two years, which, due to his perseverance, and help from sympathetic colleagues, ultimately resulted in him being found to have no charge to answer. If he hadn’t been so equipped to deal with the matter, one can only imagine the headlines that would have resulted by association with a computer suspected of containing child pornography.

Outside the force, he was subjected to a vicious whispering campaign in elements of the media. Then there has been alleged bullying in his place of work over the last six months. That is being investigated by a superintendent appointed by the garda commissioner.

Such is the lot of whistleblowers. Others in the public and private sector who have exposed wrongdoing within their organisations quickly found themselves frozen out, often leaving their jobs under the pressure.

McCabe has opted to stay in. He would appear to be a cop in the best tradition. It is noteworthy that, despite his standing among some elements of the force, four former senior officers under whom he worked referenced to Sean Guerin his exemplary professionalism.

One of those, retired Superintendent Liam Hogan described McCabe thus: “I considered Sergeant McCabe to be an excellent sergeant and member of An Garda Síochána. He offered 200% commitment and was one of my most reliable members in the district. I relied on him, I trusted him implicitly and I listened to his advice.”

So what to do with this obviously-talented cop? It would appear that his future in Mullingar is untenable. He could be transferred to another station, but his reputation would follow him. His chances of promotion would appear to be remote. For a career cop, whose prospects prior to blowing the whistle were excellent, that can’t be easy.

His most likely fate is that he will be sidelined, consigned to going through the motions all the way to retirement, or to a point where he can’t take it anymore.

There is another option: This time around, senior management appear to be taking the allegations of abuse very seriously. Acting commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan knows that her handling of the matter will be a subject for discussion when she is interviewed for the top job. Once she received McCabe’s report, she immediately initiated an investigation, and contacted the minister for justice requesting that the garda ombudsman also investigate.

In addition, McCabe has been asked to help solve the problem. That is in complete contrast to when abuse of the penalty points was investigated under assistant commissioner John O’Mahoney last year. On that occasion, the investigation team traversed the country interviewing gardaí, but never knocked on the door of the man who knew chapter and verse about the abuse.

Yesterday, McCabe met with officers from the Professional Standards Unit who are investigating his claims. How imaginative and bold would it be to appoint him to work on the unit?

He is obviously somebody who is concerned with standards in the force. There is also the matter of his standing with the public. The latest revelations have the potential to drain public confidence from the penalty points system, with all the implications that has for road safety. Would the public feel more secure if somebody of McCabe’s standing was involved in ensuring that standards were observed?

There would appear to be two choices available to senior management to deal with Sgt McCabe. He could be consigned to a backwater to potentially stew. Or his talents could be put to use for the benefit of the force. Such an appointment would certainly demonstrate that a genuine effort is being made to change the culture that gave rise to all the recent controversies.