AGSI ANNUAL CONFERENCE:GARDA SERGEANTS and inspectors have launched a strong attack on the Garda Ombudsman Commission, accusing it of operating in a secret manner.
They have also said that new proposals allowing the ombudsman to be more selective in the cases it handles would be a retrograde step. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) has said the commission is keeping information about complaints from the Garda members it is investigating.
The association's president Paschal Feeney told delegates at the opening session of the association's annual conference in Trim, Co Meath, that the secrecy with which the ombudsman commission was being run "would be laughable if it were not so serious".
Mr Feeney said proposals put to Government by the commission would allow the new complaints agency to "cherry-pick" the complaints it wanted to investigate.
He believed the commission should not be allowed to pass on any minor complaints to the Garda Commissioner for investigation, as has been proposed.
"This would be a retrograde step and would put us right back to square one with guards investigating guards," he said. "Who is to judge what is a minor complaint and what is a major one?"
The commission is currently struggling with its workload and wants Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan to introduce legislative changes allowing it refer many minor complaints to the Garda Commissioner.
It also wants the power to conduct preliminary inquiries to enable it to establish the veracity of a complaint before a full and formal investigation is begun.
At present the commission is obliged to fully and formally investigate all complaints.
The legislative changes are currently being framed and will be brought to Cabinet shortly.
However, the association says the now defunct Garda Complaints Board was consistently accused of being ineffective precisely because it used Garda members to investigate complaints against members of the force.
A spokesman for the commission said it had received 2,500 complaints in its first 10 months. In order to most effectively use its "limited resources" it was now seeking "latitude" in prioritising the most serious complaints received. He stressed the commission would continue to monitor cases referred to the Garda Commissioner and could reassume control of an investigation at any time.
Mr Feeney said his association had other difficulties with the ombudsman commission. He told delegates that the commission and Garda management had negotiated for a year and had agreed protocols around the workings of the commission without the association even being informed that negotiations were under way.
When the association requested a copy of the protocols from the commission, it was told they would be supplied by Garda management. However, when the association requested them from Garda headquarters it was told they could not have them.
"We couldn't have them and our members couldn't have them, although our members would be expected to abide by them and would be in breach of discipline if they were in breach of the protocols. You couldn't dream it up."
Mr Feeney also said the ombudsman commission was trying to introduce a system of informal resolution of complaints. However, he said the commission was not willing to inform Garda members of the specifics of complaints made against them.
A spokesman for the commission denied information was being kept from Garda members.