GARDA closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance systems are to be extended in Dublin city centre, in the suburb of Finglas and in Tralee, Co Kerry, it was announced yesterday.
The CCTV system has been tested in the Temple Bar area, south of O'Connell Bridge, in Dublin city centre for the past year and has been judged to have been successful in reducing the level of crime against tourists in the area.
However, gardai are conscious that installing high resolution cameras in one area has the effect of moving crime to adjoining areas. As a result, the scheme is already being extended to O'Connell Street and is expected to be fully operational there later this year.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Ow en, yesterday announced that, further CCTV schemes were being put in place in Finglas and in Tralee, Co Kerry.
Finglas suffers from relatively high levels of petty crime and drug abuse and Tralee is another tourist centre where, it is felt, CCTV could help reduce the incidence of theft and assaults.
In an address yesterday to the Council of International Investigators, in Malahide, Co Dublin, Mrs Owen said the State was "tackling head on the threat of drugs and organised crime" and spoke of a "watershed in Irish history in the development of criminal justice policy". The Government had authorised the establishment of new Garda bureaux to deal with drug smuggling criminal assets and fraud.
The conference is being attended by private investigators, mostly from the United States, who are discussing developments in their sector of the security industry.