THE PICTURE drawn by the Garda Inspectorate in its Resource Allocation report is a fascinating and important insight into the working and management culture of the force. But its depiction of the information/technology deficit will bewilder those in the private sector where IT networking has become a way of life and the absence, for example, of a functioning e-mail system would be inconceivable.
The account is not so much of a dysfunctional organisation, but one whose potential is seriously hobbled by the lack of basic management information and tools, and whose capacity to refocus resources at a time when they are in short supply is severely diminished. The ability of any organisation to change depends on being able to generalise from experience, and, crucially, on being able to quantify that experience. Otherwise it is likely to be condemned to plough the same old furrow in the same old way, however effectively.
Kathleen O’Toole, the inspectorate’s chief inspector, pays tribute to the Garda’s effectiveness, pointing to poll figures suggesting it is favorably or very favorably viewed by 82 per cent of the public, a high standing in international terms. But the expansion of the force by 28 per cent since 1999, the report argues, has allowed gaps to be filled without thought of qualitative reorganisation and reallocation of resources. That is no longer possible.
The failure to invest in computer technology is particularly damaging in two areas that the report argues must be priorities as soon as funds become available: a computer aided dispatch (CAD) system would not only allow for the centralisation and speeding up of responses to public calls for assistance – making possible a reduction of command and control centres from 94 to two – but also enable the force to record systematically for the first time how it manages such responses. And, above all, the Garda needs a computerised human resources system, the “biggest single deficit”, to allow the organisation to tackle “serious” systems issues – such as inflexible rosters, geographical distribution of resources, leave, and “disjointed” overtime systems.
“In policing CAD systems and resource information systems are not luxury items. They are standard technologies that have been in place in most police agencies in Europe and North America for decades and are essential to effective police administration and operations,” the report argues. “In the inspectorate’s experience it is exceptional for Garda stations up to and including divisional headquarters to have networked word processing facilities and electronic document libraries,” it observes, noting the “extraordinary” time wasted in photocopying and filing because e-mail is not available.
Among many other issues, the report also emphasises the need to bring civilianisation of the force up from one per 11 officers to the international norm of one in three to free frontline gardaí from administrative duties. The advocacy of public commitments in a Garda Charter to response times to emergency and non-emergency calls, and to giving callers estimated times of arrival is also to be welcomed.