Allegation rates against Cork Gardaí among lowest in State
FIGURES for last year have revealed that the two Cork county Garda divisions recorded among the lowest number of allegations relating to members of the force from across all of the 25 divisions across the State.
The figures were contained within the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) annual report for 2017.
The comprehensive report contains statistics on complaints received and closed within the year, case studies and information about investigations (including investigations in the public interest) opened and closed during 2017.
They showed that the Cork West division, which incorporates 33 stations, including many within the Duhallow and wider Macroom areas, received the lowest number of allegations at 39.
The Cork North Division, which incorporates 24 stations including Mallow, Fermoy, Kanturk and Mitchelstown, received the third lowest number of allegations at 77.
While the number of allegations were up on last year by nine in Cork West and five in Cork North, they were still significantly lower than other divisions in Munster, with Limerick receiving the highest number of allegations of any division outside of the Dublin Metropolitan Area at 276,
The figure for Cork City was 196, Kerry 158, Waterford 121, Tipperary 102 and Clare 100.
Nationally, the report showed that a total of 1,949 complaints were received during the course of 2017, up by 10% on the previous year, with some 4,459 allegations contained within those complaints.
The report outlined that the most common matters complained of by the public related to abuse of authority, neglect of duty, discourtesy and non-fatal offences, with examples of the latter being assault, harassment or false imprisonment.
While the report did not detail individual complaints and allegations from specific divisions, it did say that 1,702 complaints (including those on hand at the start of the year) containing 4,155 allegations were officially marked as being closed.
The report also revealed that GSOC received 24 referrals from senior Gardai at local level, none of which came from either Cork division, where it appeared “the conduct of a member of An Garda Siochána may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to, a person’. Seven of these related to fatalities.
A total of 422 criminal investigations were opened, with a total of 16 files being referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). These resulted in 10 directions for prosecution and five for no prosecution, with one pending at the end of the year.