Communities should beat heart of policing
We can’t keep doing the same things over and over again
COMMUNITY policing in Louth has received a boost after the appointment of Chief Superintendent Sean Ward, who last week promised to continue to try new ideas to reach out and engage with residents right around the county.
CS Ward was one of the speakers at a half-day conference in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, entitled: ‘Effective Policing through Partnership’ which was organised by the International Fund for Ireland-funded Muirhevnamor Community Youth Project and Camlough Community Association Peace Impact Programme.
The senior Garda officer was joined by acting CS of the PSNI, Tim Mairs and Gary Shewan, Assistant Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police, along with International Fund for Ireland board member Paddy Harte and the event was chaired by Drogheda councillor Joanna Byrne.
A police officer with more than 30 years experience, Mr Shewan spoke passionately and frankly about the need for change. ‘ The Greater Manchester Police has failed the community in Manchester. Crime is too high and communities feel that they don’t belong in the same state and how do you police young people who feel they are being blamed for crime?’
Mr Shewan warned his colleagues in Ireland that there is no point ‘ keeping policing in the same way and then be surprised when offending stays at the same levels’. The best way of breaking the cycle is to ‘deliver policing in the community and equip the police force with the skills that are required’.
Mr Shewan is an advocate who has spoken all over the world about the positive effect of restorative justice, citing the falling crime rate, especially among young people, in Manchester. ‘Policing has to go on a journey. If we continue the way we are, crime levels will continue the way they are’. Putting communities at the heart of policing is the best way forward, he said.
CS Ward outlined his experience in community policing, where he spent ten years in Dublin’s North East inner city, based at Store Street station.
He said that since his appointment as chief in Louth, he has focused on community policing issues including targeting the ‘quality of life issues’, such as anti social behaviour. There is one inspector, two sergeants and eight Gardai in the community policing unit in the county.
He outlined the recent ASBO initiative where people involved in persistent anti social behaviour, such as begging, could be banned from areas, while he also revealed a new idea to Louth. Gardai in Louth’s three main towns have been given ‘sectoral areas’ since last November where officers have been appointed to specific areas to develop knowledge within the community and assist colleagues.
The PSNI’s Tim Mairs, who has visited Columbia to speak about community policing initiatives, said that if change is going to happen ‘we need to be able to hold each other to account’. He too spoke about the positive impact of community-based restorative justice and said: ‘ There is no better example of how do start to solve the problems’.
There were contributions during the debate from Cllr. Kevin Meenan, who said that Muirhevanmor ‘ had been let down by the state’, Declan Breathnach TD who asked about post Brexit policing, and Dundalk community workers Lucy Rafferty, Clodagh O’Mahony and Garrett Weldon. Mr Weldon said the justice minister and Garda Commissioner needed to hear what was being said at conferences like this in order for things to really change.