Garda boss hints at mobile stations to fight rural crime

GARDA bosses are looking at rolling out mobile police stations and routine clinics as opposed to embarking on a sweeping re-opening of rural stations that were closed during the economic crash. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said bringing 139 stations back into use was simply not feasible under current budgetary constraints.

He said any appeal for rural stations to be reinstated would have to be examined on a case-bycase basis. ‘Before we look at reopening a station, we have to see what the operational case is,’ he said. ‘What is the demand for services in that area and exactly what will reopening a station actually achieve? Because that costs money.’

Mr Harris said that due to the financial demands, other, more cost-effective measures were being explored. He made his comments while attending a public meeting of Co. Longford’s Joint Policing Committee (JPC) on Monday night.

He added: ‘There is a finite amount of money to spend on policing and I want to make sure we have the maximum operational impact with the money we get.

‘We have a lot of estates in this organisation and we want make sure we are using it to the maximum effect, but we also want to look at alternatives, surgeries out in villages, mobile police stations and alternative means of providing visibility, reassurance and that localised service.’

Reacting last night, solicitor Kieran Cleary – who represented the Corcoran family from Co. Tipperary, who were subjected to a terrifying tiger kidnapping in 2013 – said rural Garda stations must be reopened to deter opportunistic burglars.

He said rural Ireland is living in fear and added: ‘I think the rural Garda station should be there and it is effective in reducing rural crime. It’s the presence of a physical place in the community.

‘We are now into the peak season of break-ins and robberies coming into the late nights. What happens if you are a farmer in a rural village and are robbed, and the entire community within a ten-mile radius is on high alert?

‘One break-in in a rural area can cause terrible upset.’

Speaking to the media following the JPC meeting, Mr Harris also promised to restore confidence in An Garda Síochána.

He said he believed aspects of Judge Peter Charleton’s report – following an investigation into alleged smearing of Garda whistleblowers – had been drafted specifically for his attention.

‘I don’t want to refer specifically to the actions I might have to take in terms of the Charleton Report, but I would say the last few pages of the report read as if they were written directly to me and were a clear call for action and I will not be found wanting in terms of that report,’ he said.

THE principle of presumption of innocence is a legal right in this country and one that should, of course, be adhered to and respected within any democratic society.

Anyone charged with a crime is, therefore, automatically accorded the legal leeway of being considered innocent until proven guilty.

Apart from being a legal right, such a principle is also deemed a human right under the UN Declaration of Human Rights. This is entirely as it should be. Indeed, to amend this situation in any way in our own jurisdiction could prove to be a constitutional issue.

It would not be easy, therefore, to change the system in order to give gardaí the power of arrest in relation to bail breakers without first securing a judicial bench warrant. Nor should it be.

However, in the wake of the Eoin Berkeley case, it is only sensible to examine the current situation to determine if there might be a better way forward, if there might, indeed, be particular circumstances where the gardaí are permitted to execute an immediate arrest without having to wait for the imprimatur of a judge.

Berkeley was spotted by gardaí in breach of his bail conditions but, under the current situation, they were unable to hold him without first obtaining judicial approval.

Officers didn’t have the ability to simply ‘lift him’ on the spot that day. Ultimately he went on to abduct and rape a Spanish teenager.

While a new system would have to come complete with all manner of safety measures and with its own very specific checks and balances, it is nonetheless worth considering how the gardaí could be better facilitated to deal with the situation, especially in cases where serial offenders are involved.

This is not the time to make rash decisions in relation to this matter. But, nonetheless, the realities of the current situation must now come under the microscope in order to establish if it is actually the best system when it comes to the protection of our citizens.