A GARDA INSPECTOR has said that online tutorials should not be used for domestic violence training of gardaí.

Inspector Patricia Gill, who is stationed in Clondalkin Garda Station, was speaking at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors conference in Killarney.   

The normal method of training was classroom based before the pandemic but these classes were then put online due to Covid-19 regulations. 

Gill said that online teaching should not be used for serious crime issues, and that “victim-centred training” would be much more appropriate for training gardaí in how to deal with domestic violence situations. 

“Online is useful and has its uses for those topics maybe that are less important, but where it’s victim-centred and particularly where it’s domestic violence, where the perspective of the victim can be different from other victims, it’s really in the classroom that you have to teach probationers and professional garda this perspective,” she said. 

Gill said that gardaí and society have recognised the seriousness of domestic violence in recent years with a pro-arrest policy.   

“There’s a reason that it’s been highlighted in the media and in society in the last number of years. 

“It’s a risk for them [perpetrators] to [carry out] homicide later on so it’s not something that we can take lightly,” she added. 

Minister Helen McEntee said yesterday that her department were anxious that in-person training would return as soon as possible. 

“I think we all appreciate the fact that training has only happened online in the last two years. It’s been great in some ways, and that training has continued. And there were some modules that maybe would never have happened without training online.

“It’s really important that in-house training or in-person training gets up and running as quickly as possible,” she added. 

The garda organisation has established a specialist investigation strategy to deal more generally with domestic violence offences. 

Operation Faoiseamh has seen Protective Service Units across the country dealing with a massive increase in reported incidents.