Garda sergeants and inspectors are urging Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to review the Garda’s new “operating policing model”, which has been arguably the biggest reform of policing under the near seven-year term of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
Members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) want an independent review to examine whether the roll-out of the reforms have undermined the Garda’s ability to deliver the policing service it is tasked with providing.
Representatives from across five Garda divisions are urging Mr O’Callaghan to establish the review, to a reform programme that is not yet fully completed, because they are so concerned about the changes introduced in recent years.
The AGSI annual conference, starting on Monday in Killarney, Co Kerry, will hear calls for a review to determine if the operating model “based on the current resource levels, now creates an immediate and serious risk to service delivery for the public generally”.
‘There wasn’t a dry eye in the house’: Smallest baby ever cared for at Rotunda goes home
Four killed after cable car crash on mountain near Naples
Rosie O’Donnell on her new life in Dublin: ‘I see reflections of myself in this country everywhere I look’
Ireland’s rugby exiles in Britain: Meet the Jack Charlton-style granny hunters
A motion calling for the review has been proposed by Garda sergeants and inspectors based in five Garda divisions including Cavan-Monaghan, Louth, Tipperary, Wicklow and Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) North. They want the review to test the effectiveness of the model in the face of “evolving policing requirements and increases in population density” in the years since the reforms were first proposed.
Mr O’Callaghan and Mr Harris are due to address AGSI delegates at the conference over the next two days.
It will be Mr O’Callaghan’s first Garda staff association conference since his appointment and the last AGSI conference for Mr Harris, as he is due to retire at the beginning of September.
Delegates have also proposed motions for the debate around so-called citizen journalists and how their content – which often involves live-streaming and inaccurate information – is affecting the “safety and wellbeing” of gardaí, the public and “the integrity of investigations”.
A number of motions also call for Government and Garda management to review measures that would aid Garda recruitment, as well as retaining experienced members of the force at a time when the strength of the Garda is under pressure.
One motion, put forward by representatives from six Garda divisions, has called for Garda members to be allowed to stop paying pension and superannuation contributions on completion of 30 years service, when they have earned the right to a full pension.
The operating model is effectively a new regime for policing in the Republic arising from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland’s report. That process was chaired by former Boston policing chief Kathleen O’Toole and set out a blueprint for Garda reform after years of controversies in the force.
Under the model, a number of Garda divisions have been merged. The objective is to bolster policing, with each enlarged division having its own specialist teams, including for the investigation of complex crime types such as sexual offences, frauds, gangland crimes and others.
The programme aims to ensure a better quality and more consistent policing service across the Republic. Vesting responsibility for the investigation of very serious crimes, often taken on by specialist units, is aimed at building investigative capacity across the country.
However, AGSI and the Association of Garda Superintendents have voiced concerns about the system. They believe the amalgamated divisions are too large, with the most senior officers based in stations often very long distances from other parts of the division.
There have also been complaints the model has had an adverse impact on high-visibility policing, rather than enhancing it as intended. AGSI and superintendents have also complained of a shortage of senior officers to fill the management posts under the model, putting pressure on their members over very large geographic areas.
