Joint policing committees to link gardaí with local communities

The Government has committed €600,000 for the establishment of 22 pilot joint policing committees across the country. These will be composed of members of the Garda Síochána and local councillors.

The groups will hold open meetings to allow members of the public and interest groups to have an input into policing strategies in their areas. The joint policing committees will also monitor patterns of crime and anti-social behaviour in their catchment areas including problems linked to drug and alcohol abuse.

They will then make recommendations to local Garda management in relation to the use of Garda resources in combating any crime and public order trends they identify.

The committees were provided for under the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Their creation is intended to foster co-operation between gardaí, elected representatives and members of the public. They represent the first time in the history of the State that the relationship between the Garda and local authorities has been put on a statutory footing.

Speaking at the launch of the scheme at Store Street Garda station, Dublin, yesterday Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said he wanted the committees to work in a non-adversarial and informal manner. Gardaí would not become targets for public complaints.

He added that members of the force would also forward their own crime minimisation ideas to local authorities on a range of matters including estate management, public lighting and sports and recreational facilities for young people. "While it could become a talking shop if the wrong people are on it, inter-national experience suggests that this is a good idea and that it works well."

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said the committees represented an ideal opportunity for communities to work with the Garda to jointly address policing challenges.

The committees will be run on a pilot basis at 22 locations for 12 months. They will be evaluated at the end of the period when any necessary changes will be made before the system is fully rolled out. Mr McDowell said he hoped the pilot committees would be in place by the autumn.

One committee will operate in each of the following local authority areas: Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Fingal, Offaly, Tullamore, Birr, Edenderry, Wicklow (county and town councils), Arklow, Bray, Greystones, Drogheda, Sligo, Athy, Ballinasloe, Letterkenny, Mallow, Tralee and Tuam.

The €600,000 is being jointly provided by the Department of Justice and the Department of the Environment.