GARDA SERGEANTS and inspectors have launched a strongly worded attack on the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) following suggestions by the agency it should not investigate more minor complaints against gardaí.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said it appeared the commission wanted to focus only on more serious “headline-making” cases and considered itself “too important” to handle minor complaints.
AGSI deputy general secretary John Redmond said it was time to remind the ombudsman’s office the primary reason it had been established was to “get away from the criticism of guards investigating guards” levelled when the old Garda Complaints Board was in operation.
“It would appear from this latest statement that GSOC want to move away from what they regard as trivial complaints and concentrate only on the headline-making major issues,” he said.
Mr Redmond was responding to comments made by new chairman of the ombudsman's commission, Simon O'Brien, in an interview in yesterday's Irish Times.
He and fellow commission member Kieran Fitzgerald said Garda members of sergeant rank or higher should be used to examine “customer service” style complaints made by members of the public against gardaí.
They suggested this would free up the ombudsman’s resources for more serious investigations.
However, they said the ombudsman would still investigate any cases involving allegations of criminal conduct on the part of Garda members.
Mr O’Brien, a former London Metropolitan police officer, said the informal resolution concept was working in other jurisdictions.
AGSI has responded saying every complaint against Garda members needed to be investigated by the ombudsman.
It said Garda resources should be spared for protecting the public through policing and solving crime, not investigating minor disciplinary matters.
“I note that . . . the chairman of GSOC and a former officer of the London Met Police, cites his experience of the British police,” said Mr Redmond.
“I will remind Mr O’Brien that in Ireland we have a far higher rating of respect from the public and our crime clear-up rates are also far higher than that of the Met and most, if not all, of the British police forces.”
Mr Redmond said the ombudsman’s office was now trying to offload its work on to the Garda.
“It is a fact that the vast majority of complaints are of a minor nature. But trivial or serious, they are all important to the people making them and they should all be treated with the respect they deserve.”