THE creation of new regional commands in the Garda Siochana will gradually replace the present structure of a central bureaucracy and a fragmented command based largely on county lines.
Some 18 rural "divisions" under the direct command of Garda Headquarters in Dublin, will now be divided into five regional commands. The Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA) remains as a separate, sixth, region.
To a certain extent the regionalisation of the Garda Siochana harks back to the structure established in 1822 by the British police reformer, Robert Peel (from whom the nickname "peeler" came). This set up provincial constabularies in Leinster, Ulster, Connacht and Munster.
Dublin retained its own police force, and in 1836 the metropolitan and provincial forces came under the control of a single police office.
This structure remained until after the creation of the State. The present Garda structure was defined by the 1925 Police Forces Amalgamation Act, when the 18 rural divisions and the DMA were introduced.
The Minister for Justice, Ms Owen, pointed out yesterday that, in implementing the first structural changes to the Garda Siochana since then, she was following in the footsteps of her great uncle and founder of the force, Michael Collins.
The need for a decentralised structure was identified in the late 1970s by the former commissioner, Mr Patrick McLoughlin. The regional command structure was also recommended in a management review by the consultancy firm of Stokes Kennedy Crowley in an unpublished report about the same time.
Senior Garda sources pointed out yesterday that, although the regional commanders will be taking up duties immediately, there is still no definite role outlined for them. "They will have to define their own roles", one officer said.
Another senior officer said the new regional commands were "like a ship afloat, but without an engine or steering for the moment.
The regional commanders role in relation to the chief superintendents, who have responsibility for the local divisions, has yet to be defined. The relationship between the commanders and Garda Headquarters will also evolve over time.
The appointment of the regional commanders also marks a major diminution in the bureaucratic control from Garda Headquarters. More than 600 officers work at headquarters in the Phoenix Park, and it is presumed its role will be gradually reduced as the regional commands grow in strength.
One senior officer pointed out last night that the new structures will not, in themselves, have a major impact on crime. Reducing crime, as the Minister said yesterday, involved a multi faceted approach ranging from reforms to prisons, rules of evidence, bail and improving social and educational conditions in deprived areas.
The new regional structure is expected to have an early impact" on the coordination of cross divisional investigations. There has been some criticism of the investigation into the killings of the, Clare woman, Imelda Riney, her son Liam and Father Joseph Walsh, that it lacked cooperation across Garda divisional boundaries.
Senior gardai have pointed out that one of the areas of immediate concern to the new regional commanders will be to ensure adequate liaison between the divisions in a region and among the regions.
The Minister pointed out that the "mobility, determination and ruthlessness" of criminal gangs required a new approach from Garda management on a regional, rather than divisional, basis.
The new structure, she said, extended the operational span of control "wider than the present division, yet it was more focused than the centralised method of controlling cross divisional operational matters from Garda Headquarters in Dublin."
The decentralisation of policing management also takes place in tandem with the introduction of new, more powerful specialist Garda units like the national drugs and fraud bureaux, established in the past year. These bureaux are being strengthened in an effort to deal with the increasing seriousness of drug related crime and international fraud.