The idea of closing large Dublin Garda stations and replacing them with "smaller userfriendly rooms in shopping centres" is raised in the National Crime Forum report.
The report suggests that such "store front" stations could be manned by civilians with a "garda capability being available as required."
The report is strongly supportive of community policing systems which would give local communities a say in how their areas are policed.
Forum members agree that policing policy and operation decisions should remain with the Garda Commissioner and Garda management. But some "meaningful form of empowerment of the local community" is essential to counter alienation of deprived communities and improve Garda effectiveness.
A "greater openness and trust" should be used in community relations and training of community gardai "would need to be further fine-tuned."
The Forum welcomed that the community reaction to an individual garda's work is taken into account when members are being assessed for promotion.
There is a welcome for gardai in most communities, the report says, but in others there is a sense of alienation. "It is easy to see how such communities would come to see the gardai as enforcing a set of rules intended to safeguard the way of life of the more privileged."
The report also says the issue of dividing the force and moving away from the "concept of a monolithic police force," needs to be examined in future strategy reviews.
"The more widespread use of wardens or non-criminal police for such duties as traffic management would help to reduce the pressure on resources."
It criticises the delay in implementing audio-visual recording of suspects' interviews as "disappointing." However it states that in the pilot study in four stations, "suspects were overwhelmingly unwilling to volunteer to be recorded."
On the question of complaints against the gardai, the report says "some recourse to an Ombudsman" may be worth considering.