THE NUMBER of gardaí engaged in community policing is to be doubled to 1,200 in an effort by the Garda to gain more intelligence about criminals through closer relationships with the public, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has said.
Addressing the joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Mr Murphy said intelligence from the public was the life blood of investigating crime.
Responding to questions from Charlie Flanagan TD (FG), Mr Murphy said: “What I need is evidence from witnesses in the courts. Intimidation very often prevents that from happening.”
While the witness protection programme could help overcome some difficulties, many potential witnesses were unwilling to move from their communities and relocate overseas.
Mr Murphy cited the establishment of the long-mooted DNA database as a policing tool that would greatly assist criminal investigations.
Deputy Commissioner Martin Callinan, who is in charge of operations across the force, said while 502 behaviour orders had been issued to adults and 530 to children to date, these had resulted in only four Asbos being issued.
He said the system, which is used to address persistent anti-social behaviour, was problematic because when taken to the Asbo stage the people targeted can simply feel “alienated”, exacerbating their anti-social behaviour.
Mr Murphy told the committee that the Garda would not be immune to the recession.
The official overtime budget last year was €107 million but this had been supplemented so the final figure was substantially higher. In the current year, the overtime budget was €80 million.
“The sums are quite clear,” he said. However, “gangland hotspots” such as Limerick and Finglas in Dublin would continue to enjoy considerable local resources and the attentions of specialist Garda units.
Plans to recruit 400 new gardaí into the Garda College, Templemore, this year were unaffected at present but may be subject to review later in the year.
He was hopeful a number of measures would reduce pressure on his resources. Talks were already under way with the Department of Justice and Irish Prison Service to reduce the number of gardaí needed to escort prisoners.
Some 600 civilian workers had been recruited in recent years to free up gardaí for frontline policing. However, given budgetary constraints, there were no plans to recruit any more civilians.
A new system in some courts allowed one Garda representative to give evidence in the early stages of court cases on behalf of a number of officers. This meant fewer gardaí were being occupied in the courts. An expansion of this system was planned.
Pat Rabbitte TD (Labour) expressed concern that there was still only one Garda station in Tallaght, in his constituency, for a population of 79,000. The current station was so cramped that office space was being rented by gardaí in Tallaght’s Plaza Hotel.
Mr Murphy said of the 51 murders recorded last year, 21 involved firearms and 16 of these were related to gangland crime. Gardaí had seized almost 30 firearms this year and in at least two cases murders or murder attempts were almost certainly prevented.
“But let no one underestimate the challenge involved,” he said.
“We are dealing with people – sometimes quite young people – who have a reckless disregard for human life and who, with cynical ease, resort to extreme violence and seek to settle scores, recover drug debts and claim territory down the barrel of a gun.”
Mr Murphy said while crime had increased last year, the second half of 2008 had seen a decline in overall offending. He hoped this downward trend would continue.
