Call for all armed gardaí to carry stun guns

Stun guns should be made available to all Garda members who carry firearms and not only the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has said.

The AGSI general secretary Joe Dirwan has also called for a rethink on the establishment of new primary response teams in Garda divisions outside Dublin.

The teams, which would direct armed incidents pending the arrival of the ERU, and the sanction of the use of stun guns were both approved by Cabinet on Tuesday.

However, the association believes the response teams should be established at local level. Mr Dirwan yesterday told delegates at the closing session of its three-day conference in Wexford that in large Garda divisions it would take teams long periods to travel to an incident.

"We've no difficulty with these teams being set up, but they should be at local level because it will be members at local level who will be the first to respond to incidents," he said.

He believed if the less-than-lethal Taser stun guns were made available to all armed members, rather than just the ERU as proposed, it would improve safety by negating the need for armed gardaí to shoot dangerous suspects with live ammunition.

Both the stun guns and the response teams were recommended by the Garda Inspectorate following a study of the Barr tribunal report into the ERU shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara, Co Longford, seven years ago.

Delegates also overwhelmingly passed a motion urging the Government to categorise gangland crime as a national emergency. Insp Eddie Murphy, representing the Dublin metropolitan region south central division, said gangland crime now posed as significant a threat as paramilitary organisations during The Troubles.

He welcomed provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill allowing for inferences to be drawn by a jury in cases where a suspect availed of their right to silence.

Mr Dirwan said the association believed the worsening gangland situation was now extremely serious and needed to be treated as such by the Government.

Delegates also supported a motion for technology to be introduced into prisons to block mobile phone signals.