Garda reform is now fraught with political danger – and breath-test fiasco shows how hard it will be
THERE is a wearisome feel out in the wider world with the seemingly endless saga of our gardaí – and all those doubtful deeds they have done and should not have done.
The edge has gone off things with the departure of Nóirín O’Sullivan from the role of commissioner. It has made baiting Garda top brass less of a national spectator sport for sundry politicians and others. Meanwhile, we are as far away as ever from pinning down who exactly in the force is responsible for the “falsification’’ of those phantom breath tests.
Surely, the most important conclusion from the latest report on such matters is that no individual garda will be brought to book? Apart from any other consideration the logistics involved suggest nothing will happen on this front. We are told it would take more than 20 years to investigate all cases of alleged wrongdoing.
For that reason alone nothing much by way of sanction or disciplinary action against individual gardaí is likely. In any case, it is obviously untenable – from the perspective of maintaining acceptable levels of policing – that hundreds of gardaí, from all ranks, are suspended from duty, or worse. At the end of the day, a bit of fudge is the likely end to this particular chapter in our policing drama.
In the interim, Acting Commissioner Dónall Ó Cualáin remains on a very sticky wicket. His one saving grace is he can legitimately cultivate a role as “the man in the gap”, given he has publicly stated he is not battling to be O’Sullivan’s successor. But, given that the search for a new messiah, who will lead our police force into an unchartered promised land, has hardly started, storm-filled months lie ahead.
Many of the intractable problems that bedevilled the Callinan and O’Sullivan eras continue. For example, he has been given three weeks to tell us what disciplinary proceedings will be taken against gardaí embroiled in the breath-test scandal. Even more challenging for him is that he must inform the Policing Authority what he plans to do about the “deeply concerning” behaviour of certain senior officers.
It is alleged they failed to fully explain to Nóirín O’Sullivan their particular role in the breath-tests debacle.
There have been many instances, a variety of police forces where unsaid pressure to secure convictions influenced more ambitious policemen to ‘gild the lily’ in the interests of career advancement. A central focus in the ongoing probe into An Garda Síochána is the “culture” created by senior management, and how this filtered right down to the garda on the beat.
The normally pull-no-punches Policing Authority chairperson Josephine Feehily seemed to couch her words carefully on this issue.
In her report this week, she said she is still “not sure” if individual gardaí were acting under pressure.
The suggestion is those who provided incorrect data to make themselves, their superior, and their division look good found it “easier to inflate or falsify figures” than to “speak up” and challenge the “prevailing orthodoxy”. In such a climate, phantom road checkpoints were recorded as having taken place. It was clearly part of a “feeding the beast” frenzy, to fortify all concerned with the illusion that ultra-efficient policing was the norm.
Acting Commissioner Ó Cualáin has been told he must take action against any member of the force where there is prima facie evidence of either a criminal offence or a beach of discipline. This week’s report, which suggests the number of bogus breath tests could be 400,000 more than the 1,458,000 previously identified, clearly implies wrongdoing of whatever hue, and on a mammoth scale. But if even one garda
– or officer of a higher rank – is brought to book, the force could be convulsed by an internal shock wave. It will inevitably provoke the argument as to why a particular member of the force should take the rap for what was generally accepted operational behaviour. It could also provoke an unprecedented head-on collision involving the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors with the authorities.
Turning around a police force of almost 14,000 members remains a mammoth task. It is certainly beyond the ken of any single individual. There seems to be nothing for it but to recruit a new commissioner from an outside jurisdiction. He, or she, will also need to be surrounded by a team of specially appointed senior policemen and top-quality civilian management.
This is all easier said than done. It will be costly and will upset salary relativities among the “old” and “new” management. One way or another it will be a step into the great unknown. The ultimate question will remain: Will the person recruited be up to the task? Risks abound, not least for the Varadkar Government. But, as of now, a lingering reality remains. The signs are gardaí are closing ranks on the breath-test issue. Getting our force to embrace the future – and also to fully atone for the sins of the past – may be an impossibility. It could be we can’t have one if we also want the other.
Turning around a police force of almost 14,000 members remains a mammoth task that is beyond the ken of any single individual