POLICE forces should be led by an enlightened despot", the former deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department, Mr John Timoney, said yesterday.
Speaking at the crime conference in the Garda College, Templemore, Mr Timoney said it was possible for police commissioners to have far more impact on their forces than leaders of other organisations.
"It's Very easy with a police force because they are semi military organisations and they take their lead from the top.
Police commissioners should be able to act with authority. Whatever they considered a priority should automatically be a priority for the rest of the force. This contrasted with private sector organisations where workers might be more resistant to direction from above.
His remarks come as the Government considers a successor to the Garda Commissioner Mr Patrick Culligan, who retires next month.
Mr Timoney said a police chief should pay particular attention to the way the force is trained. Training was often seen as a less important part of a force's activities, but it was one off the most critical.
He described the training programme at Templemore as a great system" because trainee gardai spend time in the classroom, "then they go out on the street, then they come back to the classroom for a few weeks so they can tell their teachers if what they are learning in the classroom is relevant".
He said police forces should constantly re-evaluate training programmes to ensure they are keeping up with changes in the police officers' work.
Mr Timoney, who served under the New York Police Department Commissioner, Mr Bill Bratton, until both men retired earlier this year, said police officers in some forces seemed to forget that physical confrontation and personal danger was part of the job. Many officers seemed to think "my primary duty is to my partner" rather than the safety of the public.
In some US states, he said, police chiefs were trying to have laws passed which would make it an offence for someone to "lay a hand" on an officer. He would always tell legislators he opposed and would ignore such laws. "What I say is, if you pass a stupid law I don't pay attention to it. I'll forgive you and I'll pretend it isn't there."
The week long conference, entitled "International Perspectives on Crime, Justice and Public Order", has been organised by the Garda, the Department of Justice and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
Yesterday's sessions took place at the Garda College in Templemore. This morning the conference resumes at Dublin Castle, where the delegates more than 200 legislators, law enforcement officials and academics from 27 countries are to be addressed by the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton.