O'Toole report: The head of the Garda Inspectorate Kathleen O'Toole has in her first report recommended the most sweeping changes in the 84-year history of An Garda Síochána.
She has called for the "civilianisation" of a very significant number of senior Garda posts. She has also recommended a much expanded and accelerated civilian recruitment drive across the force and a fundamental reorganisation of the Garda's structure.
She has advised the Government and Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy that power must be devolved from Garda headquarters and given to the six assistant commissioners in the regions.
Ms O'Toole was not due to publish her first report, on leadership and management changes, until the new year.
However, she believes some of the weaknesses she has unearthed since taking office in May need to be addressed so urgently she decided to release an interim report.
One of the most pressing matters she believes is the lack of experienced civilian managers in key senior positions within the Garda.
She has also warned that far too much emphasis has been placed on specialist units at the expense of uniformed police work. She believes a back to basics approach should be adopted with uniformed officers placed at the centre of the force.
She believes the six regional assistant commissioners should be the main drivers of day-to-day operational police work. They should be seen as the heart of the organisation and be provided with operational, financial, human resource and analytical support from Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.
While the nature of many of the recommendations will be welcomed and were expected by senior gardaí, the extent of the civilianisation process will surprise many in the force.
Ms O'Toole believes one of the three deputy commissioner posts - the next most senior rank after Garda Commissioner - should be filled by a civilian.
She also wants other key positions taken out of the hands of sworn officers such as director of human resources, director of finance, director of information technology and legal adviser.
A new civilian post of director of communications, to deal with external and internal communication, has also been proposed.
"There is a general recognition now that this [ civilianisation] is international best practice now," Ms O'Toole said at the launch of her report yesterday.
She believes the civilianisation programme is warranted given the size of the Garda organisation, with more than 12,500 sworn members and 1,300 civilian staff.
"Certainly, a private corporation of this size would employ a highly specialised management team. So too should the Garda Síochána."
She intends to publish a further, more comprehensive report addressing civilianisation at all levels of An Garda Síochána.
Ms O'Toole (50) is the former Boston police commissioner and is regarded as one of the leading figures in policing in the US. She served on the Patten commission which reformed policing in the North. The Garda Inspectorate, which she heads, is an independent body provided for under the Garda Síochána Act, 2005, which investigates how the gardaí do their job.
MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS
The Garda Inspectorate began operating in May. It will investigate how the force is structured and operates and will make recommendations to Government.
Its first report, Garda Síochána Management Structure, was published yesterday. Among its recommendations are:
• Executive committee chaired by the Garda Commissioner to run the force. This would include two sworn officer deputy commissioners, a civilian deputy commissioner and a civilian legal adviser.
• Newly created team of the existing six assistant commissioners should be given much more operational power.
• Increased emphasis to be put on work of uniformed gardaí rather than specialist units.
• Study needed to identify accommodation and vehicle fleet needs.
• Major further report promised on civilianisation across the force.
• New civilian post of director of strategy to be created.
• Other civilian senior management posts to be created, including directors of human resources, information and communications technology and finance.