Sergeants, inspectors strongly opposed to plans for Garda reform

Garda sergeants and inspectors are set to attack proposed reforms for the Garda and its oversight agencies, claiming the Government's plans will damage policing in Ireland.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) is on Monday set to use its annual delegate conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, to tell Minister for Justice Helen McEntee its members are completely opposed to the proposals.

AGSI president Paul Curran will tell Ms McEntee the new Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will "create more difficulties than positive reform for An Garda Síochána in its current format".

He also believes the “extended powers” proposed to be granted to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) “are without proper justification” and would “encroach on the legal, constitutional and privacy rights of members of AGSI”, who were citizens as well as Garda members.

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The Garda's middle managers, 2,300 of whom are represented by AGSI, are voicing their opposition to the planned reforms after Garda Commissioner Drew Harris outlined his strong opposition to the plans in recent months.

Mr Harris believes the new Bill would give "disproportionate" powers to the Garda oversight agencies. He argued the powers were so unfair to gardaí who could be placed under investigation that they were "unconstitutional" and would be successfully challenged in the courts.

Mr Harris, whose concerns were first reported by The Irish Times in September, said if the new legislation providing for policing reform was enacted, he would spend “more time reporting and accounting to [oversight] bodies than actually overseeing policing, security matters and the leadership and direction of An Garda Síochána”.

He also believed so much power to keep discipline within the Garda would be transferred to the oversight agencies his authority would “seep away” at a time when he was working to reform the Garda.

New legislation

The new legislation seeks to reform the Garda based on the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. That commission, which was led by the former Boston police chief Kathleen O’Toole, deliberated for more than a year and published its findings and recommendations for widespread reform of the force and its oversight agencies just over three years ago.

The Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate, like Mr Harris, outlined their concerns about what is planned when they addressed the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice last month as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.

Ms McEntee is due to address the conference on Monday evening when she will reply to an address by Mr Curran, while Mr Harris and AGSI general secretary Antoinette Cunningham are due to address delegates on Tuesday on the second day of the three-day conference.

Meanwhile, Ms McEntee is due to announce that consideration is being given to creating a new specific criminal offence of non-fatal strangulation in a domestic violence setting.

She believes a harsher approach should be taken to those who attempt to strangle their partner, as the crime demonstrates the extreme ongoing risk faced by the victim.

Pay

As well as the mooted Garda reforms set for discussion, delegates will also discuss a range of motions on pay, overtime and pensions. Delegates from the Clare Garda division are set to call for all Garda members on frontline units to be trained in the use of Taser stun guns.

Delegates from the Louth division will call on Mr Harris to prioritise the introduction of body-worn cameras for all frontline gardaí.

Sergeants and inspectors representing the Dublin metropolitan region south central want the AGSI national executive to lobby Ms McEntee to extend the time limit for initiating proceedings for summary, or less serious, offences to 18 months, from six months at present.