THE NEW Garda initiative against drug dealing is not a "panic response" to anti-drug activists taking the law into their own hands, the assistant Garda commissioner, Mr Tom King, said yesterday.
Mr King pledged that Operation Dochas (Hope), which began yesterday, will be "non confrontational" and "personalised", with officers working closely with Dublin communities where drug dealing is prevalent.
He said there was "no reason" for people in such communities to take the law into their own hands. "We want to be the law enforcement wing of these communities," he said.
The aim of the operation, he stressed, "would be to create a situation ... where people in these communities no longer feel any need to go marching or any need to sit out in huts... The only patrols that I would like to see in Dublin by Christmas would be Garda patrols."
Operation Dochas will involve more than 500 uniformed and plain clothes gardai patrolling specific areas in small units. Each unit will build relations with residents in a specific number of households and gather information on the activities of drug dealers and their suppliers.
Leaflets will be distributed to 354,000 households requesting residents to supply information to local Garda stations or through a confidential freephone number.
Officers will "be tasked to relate personally with the communities, not only in terms of their organised leaders but also with individuals down to a family level", Mr King told a press conference.
He said officers will operate in all areas in which local people have found it necessary to mount anti drugs marches and will look for "active support" from these communities. He hoped public co operation with the Garda would lead to many arrests.
Asked if he was dissatisfied with the current flow of information about drug dealing, Mr King replied: "I think I would have to wonder why a community should march on a particular flat and why that information would not have been relayed to us so that we can do the marching by warrants acting within the law and making proper arrests. As far as that is not happening in any particular case, clearly we want it to happen.
Responding to a question about infiltration of some anti drug groups by paramilitaries, Mr King said the "vast majority" of people involved in anti drug marches "are local and well meaning" and would have the support of the Garda.
"There are certain people in some areas of Dublin and in some, organisations who would have their own agenda. We would not share those motivations and our interests have always been and" remain directly with the community. We will provide the community with the opportunity to relate directly to us. They will need nobody else to relate to", he added.
Operation Dochas includes a "fast track" analysis of seized substances, aimed at bringing charges more quickly against arrested dealers. It is an open ended initiative to be reviewed early in January.