Garda sergeants and inspectors have claimed gardai patrolling in cars are putting their lives at risk because the vehicles they are being provided with are unsuitable and unsafe.
Delegates at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) have been told small cars being fitted with “blue lights” and were then “masquerading as police vehicles”.
Sgt Seamus Burke representing the Louth Garda division told the conference that Garda members were being sent out to patrol the streets in small cars such as Toyota Yaris’s and Carolla’s and Ford Fiesta’s. Such vehicles were “not fit for the job at hand”.
“Simply placing a set of blue beacons and Garda signs on a vehicle does not make it a patrol car any more than placing a donkey in a stable would make it a racehorse,” he told the conference.
“We are aware that many motor manufacturers supply purpose-built policing vehicles. This precedence should be the benchmark for the Garda fleet.”
He said no new vehicles would be provided this year meaning none of the older vehicles currently in the Garda fleet would be replaced.
Garda cars were not legally required to undergo a National Car Test (NCT) until they were four years old. However, some vehicles were running up about 100,000km per annum meaning they will have reached over 400,000km before they undergo their first NCT.
“Our current fleet is in no way suited to this,” Sgt Burke said. “A taxi cab must undergo an annual NCT. Surely or fleet is no safer and covers no less mileage annually?”
Sgt Dominic Flynn, representing the Longford-Westmeath division, called for changes to the design of extendable batons, known as an Asp, issued to all uniformed members.
He said the current Asp did not have a strap to help gardai secure it to themselves. This had led to situations where some offenders had taken Asps from gardai and used the batons to attack officers.
He said some young gardai had purchased straps for their Asps but there were concerns that modifying the batons would nullify insurance in the event the gardai were injured in an incident involving the Asp.