Garda failings hurt the force as well as victims

Important lessons from previous Inspectorate reports were not heeded and systematic failures in how gardaí report crime continue to be made, writes Cormac O’Keeffe

BACK in March 2013, the Garda Inspectorate said it was “unacceptable” that sergeants were unable to supervise gardaí on the beat, because they were bogged down in the office doing paper work.

In its report Frontline Policing, it said there were “significant gaps in supervision at the frontline” and this was a particular problem for inexperienced gardaí. It said sergeants in charge of regular patrols had told them they were only able to go out with their unit 10% of the time.