Public should be the eyes and ears of the gardai in helping to solve crime
August 1984
THE public should become the eyes and ears of the Gardai to help solve the serious and growing crime menace, Chief Supt. Dick Cotterell of the Louth-Meath Division said in an interview this week.
The Drogheda based chief, who retires this October, urged people to report anything suspicious they to the gardai.
Supt. Cotterell is a staunch supporter of the neighbourhood watch idea, an experiment in Garda and community co-operation introduced by the present government.
He agreed the public image of the Gardai had taken somewhat of a battering in recent years. “The Gardai have been getting a good bit of stick and unfavourable publicity, some of it justified but some of it not justified.
“Gardai are like every other segment of society. By and large they are very accent people, but you will always get the odd black sheep. That is the nature of society.”
As head of the Louth-Meath Garda Division, Supt. Cotterell leads a force of 500 Gardai.
An undoubted highlight of Supt. Cotterell’s career was the Papal visit to Killineer, which he proudly recalled went off without a hitch.
One thing which disturbs him greatly is the amount of vandalism in Drogheda.
“I am saddened when I walk around the town—like the bishop and his bicycle I walk a lot—and see churches under lock and key. It is sad when the house of God must be locked to worshippers due to the action of a few hooligans.” When Supt. Cotterell retires in October, he will have been 41 years in the Garda force. A native of Kilkenny, he came first in Ireland in his sergeants and inspectors exams and has been Chief Supt. in Drogheda since 1972.