So we have had another shooting in Dublin and, as tends to happen, we have the politicians jumping up and down with indignation. They spout a lot of nonsense and promise to move mountains to get those responsible brought to account. Garda resources are not a problem. We have come to expect that kind of response now and it goes in one ear and out the other.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny says he has full confidence in Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan. The Government is determined to provide any resources requested by Commissioner O’Sullivan with regard to gang-related crime. He says that every effort is being made to bring the perpetrators to justice. He looks straight into the camera and appears very solemn and sincere.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has always maintained that the gardai have adequate resources. She has described the latest murder in Dublin is an “outrageous attack on law and order” and is “unacceptable”. Resources are being made available she said.
When pushed on the matter she will suggest that resources are a matter for the Garda Commissioner. The Garda Commissioner, Noirin O’Sullivan, appears to be happy with the resources she has at her disposal because she never seems to be contradicting the Minister.
The reality is that the lack of resources is a huge issue and policing is in crisis because of it. Nobody in authority seems to want to admit it but the simple fact of the matter is that there are not enough gardai on the streets. So who do we blame?
While some would lay the blame solely at the door of the Minister for Justice, I would argue that they are equally responsible. In fact I would even suggest that the Commissioner might be more responsible given that her understanding of policing should be superior to that of any politician.
Her continued denial that there is a resource issue is remarkable and does nothing to strengthen her credibility. The fact that she has failed spectacularly to stand up to the Minister to demand the extra resources required makes her, at the very least, as responsible as the Minister for Justice.
The lack of recruitment over the last number of years and loss of gardaí during that time has left significant gaps in the force and has resulted in a reduction in low level police activity across the country. The visibility of the ordinary garda on the beat has reduced remarkably in recent years. This has resulted in a loss of intelligence and local knowledge which is the backbone of policing.
After the Regency Hotel shooting, the Government announced the addition of fifty five gardai to a new Dublin armed support unit. These gardai were taken from other areas of frontline policing which created gaps elsewhere resulting in a reduction of effective policing in those areas. It was simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The Annual Policing Plan 2015 launched by the Garda Commissioner set out the policing commitments of the service and set the priorities for An Garda Síochána as determined by the Minister for Justice and Equality under Section 20 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005.
The Garda Commissioner stated “I am conscious that the close relationship we enjoy with communities across the country remains critical to our ability to prevent and tackle crime. We do not take this relationship for granted and will work to maintain and develop these strong links. Combining our community engagement and community policing philosophy with a renewed sense of public service and duty will be a priority for the entire organisation in 2015”.
“We will continue to provide all necessary resources to provide high visibility policing to reassure communities,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
These statements ring hollow now in view of the destruction of the effective system of community engagement that once existed in this jurisdiction. The Minister and the Commissioner are quick to point out that the closure of rural garda stations has not undermined policing. In fact they have argued that the rural community will somehow benefit from an improved service because of it.
There are a number of issues at stake here;
The general lack of resources and the shortage of manpower in the specialist units
The ban on recruitment
The new roster system
The closure of the rural garda stations
The dilution of community engagement.
While these are regularly addressed separately by the authorities they are, in fact, all connected. They have resulted in the situation that we now find ourselves in and the fact that murders can now be committed at will in the capital city.
How in the face of this, both the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner can agree that An Garda Siochana is adequately resourced is a mystery to many. They seem to limp along from one incident to the next without any definite plan while at the same time suggesting that everything is under control.
The short term answer to the gangland problem in Dublin is to throw manpower and money at it as happened in Limerick a few years ago. This will mean reducing cover in other areas because the numbers simply aren’t there and that will create issues elsewhere. But that’s the price of incompetence.
The Garda Commissioner has a duty of care to her members and she cannot be excused for failing to stand up to the politicians to demand what is needed to ensure that those members can carry out their duty as safely and as effectively as possible.