Drugs Unit delayed by lack of resources

A dedicated Drugs Unit has still be to set up in Dundalk, nine months after the idea was first mooted, members of the Joint Policing Committee heard at last week’s meeting.

Responding to a question from Cllr Maeve Yore, Supt Gerry Curley said that a lack of resources was hindering progress although he hoped to have a more positive answer for the next meeting.

‘It’s not just a question of setting up a drugs unit, you need to have the resources to bring new members up to a certain level of expertise. You have to have the space and you have to be able to train the younger members who have come out of Templemore.’

However, he stressed that while they don’t have a specific drugs unit, the town’s crime unit deals with drug related crime.

These gardai would have a good level of experience and he pointed to the successful recent operation in which €80,000 worth of drugs were seized.

He also pointed to an increase in the number of detections for the sale and supply of drugs over the past three months which at 17 was five more than the same time last year as well as a big jump in figures for possession of drugs for personal use from 17 to 51.

A specialist unit is set up to deal with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. At the moment it was operating out of Dundalk but it will be based in Castlebellingham, with a Detective Sergeant in charge.

‘ This is a very important area, as we are dealing daily with reports of domestic violence,’ he said. The unit will have its own car so members can go out and interview people.

While the number of sexual assaults had shown a drop compared to the same period last year, with nine as opposed to 19, he warned against reading too much into that as sometimes figures can relate to historical offences.

A number of councillors expressed concern that no figures for domestic violence were provided and he undertook to provide them in future.

A dedicated traffic unit with a Garda Sergeant and eight gardai was now operating out of Dundalk, which also covers Ardee.

‘It’s good for the District,’ he said, explaining that the members of the unit are out on the roads, stopping and searching vehicles which helps to prevent crime as well as dealing with road traffic offences.

With 39 instances of drunk driving in the past three months, he said they were still seeing instances of people who were not just barely over the limit but two or three times over the limit. ‘ There are people arrested on the motorway who are two times over the limit. If there was an accident, it would be carnage.’