Lack of Garda presence in Sligo is a mystery
I’M not going to make any comment on Sligo’s most recent violent death other than to say there’s a sense of fear building amongst the community. There’ s been several unprovoked killings in the town inside the past six years leaving aside the gun related deaths.
Tom Ward junior was killed near his home in Cranmore in 2007, Cyril Moran died as a result of a violent assault at his home in Cartron in 2010, Eugene Gillespie, a shopkeeper was brutally attacked in his home at Old Market Street in 2012, Martin Kivlehan stabbed to death in his house at Holborn Hill in 2015, Natalie McGuinness strangled at Mail Coach Road in 2015 and now Jimmy Loughlin who had answered his front door at Connolly Street.
Each case naturally has its own particular circumstances and I’m not going to say here that those deaths might have been prevented by a greater Garda presence in the city. Like any other member of the public in Sligo I can only go by what I see and many people I talk to are asking the same.
Why isn’t there a Garda presence in the city? When has anyone ever seen a uniformed officer walking the beat around the city centre? Yes, we can all see the patrol cars passing through the streets but they don’t stop. The reassuring presence of a Garda on the beat seems to have disappeared in Sligo and many other towns and cities. Has An Garda Síochána become a reactionary force, responding to incidents as they arise rather than being proactive?
Is this new policy of ‘smart policing’ actually yielding results? I have to say it’s quite frustrating to walk the streets of Sligo on any particular day and never see a uni- formed Garda. We had them in the past and they were an integral presence. People got to know them and as I stated earlier if nothing more it was reassurance, particularly for our elderly and vulnerable residents. There’s a lot of petty crime taking place in Sligo at present and we even have the near permanent presence of professional beggars who are not homeless. Any proactive police force would not be allowing this to happen. Don’t get me wrong, the Gardaí do a fantastic job with limited resources but Sligo is a city with a population of 20,000 people and has a Purple Flag denoting it’s a safe place at night for entertainment.
However, how much of the population would actually say they feel safe? A presence on the streets is a small step but it’s one worth considering and might yield not only some results but positive PR for the force too. It’s over to Sligo’s new Chief Superintendent and Superintendent to make what would appear to be a straightforward change and give us back a street presence.