THE COLLATOR does not quite have the ring of a title for a cops and robbers movie, but the person it describes plays a key role in the battle against crime in any large Garda station.
The officially preferred title is Criminal Intelligence Officer, but he is known to all his colleagues as the Collator. There are three of him in DMA East, one for each district, and the one in Dun Laoghaire's F District prefers to remain nameless. We'll call him Garda X.
Put simply, Garda X's job is to compile and file away the reported movements of suspects and known criminals as they pass daily under DIA East's many pairs of eyes. The most valuable details are among the most basic ones what the suspect is driving, where he's living, what company he's keeping, what direction he's travelling at the time.
The information is passed on by gardai on the street and in patrol cars, by the crime task force, by detectives and by some more than others. There is no obligation attached to it.
The details are then stored away to be used when the situation, i.e., the crime, arises. A report in the collator's office will then place an individual on the list of suspects or will provide him with an alibi, saving everybody wasted time.
The system has been in place since 1979. In that time, Garda X has amassed more than 1,000 files. But he stresses that the information is for purely internal use and concerns genuine suspects or known criminals only.
Files are never destroyed, although many of the subjects have died or retired. "We're on their sons now, in many cases," says the collator.