Culture in Garda is preventing change, committee told

Gardaí could increase their visibility by getting out of their patrol cars and "knocking on doors", the Garda Síochána Inspectorate has said.

The body, which examines Garda practices and procedures and recommends change, also believes the current Garda culture was inhibiting change and that front-line services were not being prioritised and protected.

Garda Síochána Inspectorate deputy chief inspector Mark Toland said even within the confines of current resource shortages, there were many things gardaí could do to reassure the public and build relations with them.

"The thing that I have found in terms of visibility, guards often drive down my road but I never see them," he told the Oireachtas justice committee yesterday.

“They might walk down the street but if you’re not out and about you don’t see them. We’ve recommended they need to knock on doors, let people know they’re actually patrolling their streets.”

He said visibility was a “very difficult issue” for gardaí, but by calling into people’s homes they would offer reassurance to members of the public and help to tackle the fear of crime created by “headline news”.

Mr Toland expressed his “frustration” that many of his organisation’s key recommendations had not been acted on.

Computer database

The inspectorate highlighted in 2014, for example, that many crimes were not entered on the Garda’s Pulse computer database, and three subsequent reports by the

Central Statistics Office

found the same problems. It was particularly concerned by the failure of some Garda personnel to log crimes which had been reported to them in person.

Mr Toland said the CSO had found some Garda stations had no book or computer in which reports of crimes were recorded.

The Garda was “woefully behind” other police forces with its technology, by perhaps three decades, he said. There were real concerns of how free Garda members felt to speak up when they felt they should highlight shortcomings with a view to improving policing, he said.

Recent scandals

“The current Garda culture is inhibiting change,” Mr Toland said, adding some recent scandals would not have arisen if some of his recommendations had been implemented.

For example, the recent O’Higgins report – into allegations of poor practices and corruption in Cavan-Monaghan – had highlighted a litany of errors that had occurred due to poor supervision of inexperienced gardaí. While the need for civilianisation of the force to free up gardaí for front-line duties had been repeatedly stressed, progress had not been made in a large number of posts.

“In total, 83 per cent of Garda resources are deployed to front-line services, compared to 93 per cent in some other police services,” Mr Toland said.

“Our evidence, including analysis of data and feedback from the communities we visited, highlights the lack of a visible Garda presence.

“This is an area that has not been sufficiently progressed. At least 1,500 gardaí are in non-operational roles that could be released for patrol, investigation and community policing duties. At 14 per cent of the total workforce, there is a very low level of civilian staff in the Garda Síochána, compared to other police services.”