RANK-AND-FILE gardaí again raised concerns this week over threats to their safety – with the Garda Representative Association calling for a taskforce to be set up to protect officers who they say are now ‘routinely’ being injured in the line of duty.
It comes amid growing concerns across all levels of the force regarding recruitment, retention and morale.
In an interview with The Journal, a recently-retired Garda Inspector has said he believed that poor leadership was partly to blame for the mounting problems.
Tony Gallagher - a Dublin-based officer retired last year after a career which saw him decorated with a Scott medal for bravery for confronting an armed gang – also said that fear of discipline among lower-ranking gardaí is making streets less safe as members are being forced to police in a risk-averse environment.
Gallagher now works with security consultants the Ashtree Risk Group and has been working with Dublin retailers to help them mitigate risks to their businesses. He is also the Chairman of Dubhlinn, a Dublin business group representing approximately 100 businesses.
While in the force, he regularly led operations to police concerts and sporting events, large-scale protests and high-risk events like gangland funerals – heading up teams of gardaí from stations such as Store Street and Mountjoy.
Speaking to this website, he said he believes that respect for gardaí has vanished and that guards on the street often think first about the consequences for themselves before they act.
Gallagher said that abuse towards gardaí by protestors at recent incidents such as an anti-immigration march in Ballymun is evidence of the deteriorating environment for policing.
He referenced a recent video circulated on social media of gardaí being screamed at by a protestor in the Dublin suburb. He believes this shows how some in society have become emboldened as they know gardaí are unlikely to react to their behaviour.
“The level of assaults and violence directed towards gardaí is increasing; the respect is gone because there are no meaningful consequences for the offenders.
“The gardaí on the streets are now all too frequently applying their thoughts to ‘what will happen if I do act’, and this has become their biggest thought when weighing up the consequences of complaints.
“Intervention by gardaí would be well merited in many such aggressive situations, but they are resisting taking action. It is a significant issue as criminal offenders will become more defiant knowing that gardaí will not act – this has to change,” he added.
Gallagher claimed that that phone recordings by the public that lack the full context of an incident are being used in complaints to arbitrarily punish gardaí. He believes garda bodycams will go a long way to solving that problem.
Garda representative associations, the Commissioner and Department of Justice have all called for the implementation of bodycams – however the situation is mired in, according to sources, concerns around GDPR.
Management system
Gallagher believes the root of the risk-averse issue is a management system that favours statistics over actual police work.
Sources have told The Journal that gardaí are struggling with a new admin system. This is a cumbersome, computer-based system, which requires gardaí to carry out system generated enquiries that are designed for large-scale investigations, rather than cut and dry incidents.
Gallagher backs that view, and said that management are also suffering the same consequence with a focus on a ‘dashboard” computer system.
This is a system which puts strong focus on statistics and targets – for instance how many patrols, checkpoints and other measurable activities like community meetings take place. And while these events are an important part of the picture, Gallagher is concerned that the focus on being able to ‘show your work’ does not reflect the actual work being done by rank and file gardaí.
“This is really grinding the gardaí down and is being used to discipline them to the point that they are more focused on doing paperwork than actual police work – this needs to be streamlined,” Gallagher said.
He explained: “Management is consumed with the performances and targets around what’s known as the Management Dashboard.
“It is felt that the management of a division or a district is primarily focused on the rating on this computer system,” he said.
Gallagher said these statistics are used to “bombard meetings at community safety fora” with figures that can be used to portray a picture of efficient policing to members of the public who are not aware of the reality of the work of the gardaí.
“The management structure places the onus on district management to deliver on these targets: the reality is that operational members on the ground see through this and there is no respect for this type of system.
“Leadership means exactly that, working closely with operational units, supporting them, advising them, and developing them,” he added.
Sources have said that the issue of statistics-driven policing is particularly prevalent in road policing with numbers of checkpoints, drunk driver arrests and detection of ticket offences.
But this has now seeped into everyday policing – known as “work return” by gardaí.
Gallagher believes that while management systems now seek tangible statistics it is missing the need for gardaí to police on the streets – he said operational management as well as rank-and-file gardaí support that view.
Assaults
Gallagher believes that a sign of the deteriorating relationship between gardaí and the public is marked in the prevalence of assaults against gardaí.
Figures from the Garda Representative Association back this point up – in 2022 there were 285 serious assaults on gardaí. That is a 20% increase from 243 in 2021. Of those cases, 17 saw gardaí suffer bone fractures, with other injuries such as head injuries, dislocations, lacerations and bites.
The former inspector believes that an interpretation of law by judges around breach of the peace is to blame for this behaviour.
Gallagher believes that, given that gardaí are in their workplace while dealing with abusive members of the public, that a law should be introduced to protect them.
“There have been recent protest events where absolute vile abuse has been directed at gardaí. There is a view in the interpretation of law that the breach of the peace can only be taken as a crime if it is directed towards the public and not the gardaí.
The interpretation is that gardaí should be able to withstand abuse, this is where the respect for gardaí breaks down and abuse towards gardaí is now an everyday occurrence, there should be a specific offence for offensive conduct directed at gardaí.
Resignations
Recently The Journal reported that there was a problem with rising resignations in An Garda Síochána and a problem of recruits leaving before the end of their training.
Gallagher believes, that when all combined, the problem of retention is having an impact in which gardaí are choosing to leave the career than deal with the difficult internal environment.
“To start with, the probationer training system is too academic, there needs to be a greater emphasis for on-the-job training. We saw this during Covid-19 when young trainee gardaí were assigned to stations instead of the Garda College, they had on-the job training and they enjoyed it,” he said.
Gallagher believes that the multiple bodies set up to oversee the gardaí, such as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, the Policing Authority and the Policing Inspectorate are making the work of gardaí more difficult.
“The Garda Organisation is now haemorrhaging personnel, with young members deciding to leave. There is absolutely no doubt that the training system and stifling oversight by numerous bodies is a factor,” he added.
Gallagher believes that the policing model during the Covid-19 pandemic of a high-visibility presence in communities is what the public want.
He explained that part of the difficulty, moving gardaí out of the community, is caused by the filling of posts in specialist units because of promises made in “over-ambitious policing plans” to meet political expectations.
These units include Protective Service Units (PSU) and other plain clothes units – PSU is an initiative to make dedicated teams to deal with sexual assault crimes, domestic abuse and other vulnerable victims incidents. While he welcomes the specialisation he believes that the staffing level is not there to meet the demand to fill such posts.
Gallagher said that this combined with a focus on a policing model in which administrative tasks trump operational activities is making life very difficult for gardaí.
“The gardaí themselves want to be outdoors. Their presence as a deterrent has a significant effect on the perception of public safety. They are valued and should be supported with the necessary equipment such as body cameras, specific legislation for violent conduct towards them and meaningful penalties imposed by the courts.
“An Garda Siochana are culturally different in a positive sense – there is a need to take notice of what is happening and restore the confidence of operational gardaí that they will be supported in their work,” he said.
Commissioner comments
On Monday evening last the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris released a statement and defended the force’s handling of the recruitment and retention, in the wake of an attack on an officer in Ballymun at the weekend.
He said that he believes it is achievable to reach a target of 15,000 gardaí.
He said that in 2022, there were 340 retirements and 109 resignations, meaning that 450 Gardaí left the organisation out of more than 14,000 Gardaí.
Harris added that any resignation is of concern to the organisation and An Garda Síochána will shortly introduce exit interviews to examine why Gardaí are resigning.
“While all Gardaí accept policing has its risks, there can never be any excuse for these disgraceful attacks.
“It is not acceptable that a small minority in society – and it is only a small minority – feel that Gardaí can be attacked just because they are carrying out their duties.
“The vast majority of the public have great respect for the work that Gardaí do to keep them safe, their professionalism and dedication, and their empathy, particularly when engaging with the most vulnerable in our society.
“I will continue to ensure we provide Gardaí with the equipment they need to do their jobs safely and effectively,” he said.
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