Crime & Law

Sergeants, inspectors urge Minister for Justice to review how gardaí are investigated

Calls follow four-year process into allegation Midlands-based garda stole bike from Garda stores, ending in exoneration

Members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors want Helen McEntee to order a review into how Drew Harris conducts investigations – disciplinary or criminal. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Conor Lally
Mon Mar 25 2024 - 00:01

Garda sergeants and inspectors are calling on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to carry out a root and branch review of how members of the force are investigated when allegations are made against them.

The Garda’s middle managers have also criticised the new Garda uniforms, rolled out last year, saying gardaí were very cold in the new clothing while in uniform. And they also want Ms McEntee to follow the example of Ryanair and other employers and buy accommodation for gardaí to live in.

Members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) want Ms McEntee to order a review into how Mr Harris conducts investigations – disciplinary or criminal. They also want another review into how the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) investigates Garda members.

[ Bizarre case of the garda, pensioner and bicycle a gift to those resisting reform ]

The demands will be made and debated at the annual delegate conference of the AGSI which begins on Monday in Westport, Co Mayo. They follow in the wake of a lingering controversy around a four-year investigation process into a garda in the Midlands who took a bicycle from a Garda station, without advance permission, and gave it to an elderly local man.

READ MORE

The DPP in 2021 directed the detective had no criminal case to answer arising from the allegation, brought by a colleague, a year earlier that he had stolen the bike. He was then investigated internally by the Garda under breach of discipline regulations, but exonerated earlier this month.

He had been suspended in early 2020 and though he was reinstated, on no public-facing restrictive duties, last August he was not fully reinstated until last week, almost four years after the controversy began.

[ ‘Not my intention’ to undermine garda in stolen bike case, says Drew Harris ]

The case, especially the seriousness of the investigations and the length of time they took, has been strongly criticised, including the Garda Representative Association (GRA) who said a “sledgehammer was used to crack a nut”.

AGSI delegates from Westmeath will call upon Ms McEntee to carry out “a review of how the Commissioner conducts disciplinary investigations and their associated timelines”, with a role for Mr Harris in that review. The same delegates also want Ms McEntee to review how Gsoc “conducts their investigations and the associated timelines”.

Sergeants and inspectors from the Cork City Garda division also want to the Garda disciplinary regulations change to ensure when a Garda member appeals the decision of an investigating superintendent, that appeal should be decided up by a chief superintendent who has had no previous role in the case.

There are multiple motions about the new Garda uniform set to be debated at the conference – which will be addressed by Ms McEntee and Mr Harris on Tuesday – many suggesting the uniforms are not warm enough.

Sergeants and inspectors from Dublin north central want an “urgent review of the current operational uniform” saying it was “not fit for purpose ... due to quality of the material to retain heat”. This meant a hi-vis jacket had to be worn on in-door duty, which was not practical.

Delegates from Dublin south central have called for an additional layer of clothing to be introduced – such as a fleece or similar – due to “concerns from members about the lack of warmth in the current uniform”.

The new look uniform was first introduced in 2022 and includes two-tone – bright yellow and dark navy blue – soft shell and waterproof jackets. A sky-blue polo shirt replaced the conventional shirts gardaí had always worn with neckties, which were not retained. The new uniform also includes “operational trousers”, which are looser fitting and include large pockets on the outside thigh, with base layers also supplied.

Garda sergeants and inspectors from the Dublin north division will urge the association to lobby Ms McEntee to “consider investing in accommodation which could be provided to members of An Garda Síochána” amid the ongoing property crisis.

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times

LATEST STORIES