Líne duty: Gardaí get their own ACU
Drew Harris sets up an anti-corruption unit, complete with Adrian Dunbar-style boss
THE newly established Garda Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) to investigate corruption in the force will have a 90-strong team of officers by next year, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The ACU team is currently shadowing detectives investigating alleged Garda corruption in the Limerick division.
The new unit, which currently consists of 25 officers, has also gone live with smaller investigations of its own.
Gardaí are hopeful that by the end of September the ACU, which is based on similar units in the London Met – where hit BBC drama
Line Of Duty is set – and the PSNI, will be fully operational.
Senior Garda sources told the MoS it is hoped the ACU will be a significant bureau by this time next year.
A source said: ‘It is off the ground. They’re shadowing NBCI [National Bureau of Criminal Investigation], but they’re also taking investigations now.
‘The policy has been drawn up and the team is waiting on the department [Justice] to finish the regulations on the random drug testing. It is well advanced.’
The ACU is the creation of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, who has repeatedly stated the importance of such a unit to any police force. It will be overseen by the former head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, Assistant Commissioner Pat Clavin.
For Line Of Duty fans, the Ted Hastings figure of the unit is Detective Superintendent Nigel Mulleady. A second superintendent, Detective Superintendent Aidan McCarthy, is in charge of training and governance.
A source told the MoS: ‘NBCI is the investigative wing and they normally do the corruption, so the unit is down there shadowing those teams and at some stage they’ll go live on their own.
‘They have a serious investigation team of 15 set up and they’re down shadowing NBCI and predominantly looking at the Limerick stuff. There is a massive drive by Pat Clavin to get it up and running and they’re hoping the investigation team will be taking on major investigations alone by the end of the year.’
Another source said: ‘They have taken a number of small ones [investigations] in conjunction with NBCI and they’re shadowing on the Limerick stuff since before the last lockdown, but at the moment it’s about training and policy and, when all that
‘They have a serious investigation team’
is done, with the random alcohol and drug testing regulations they’ll be fully operational by the end of September.’
ACU has a base at Garda HQ in the Phoenix Park which has been set up in line with best international practice.
A senior Garda source said: ‘In every country, it is done internally with outside oversight. International best practice shows the most effective way to combat anti-corruption is that internal units with good oversight are the most effective.
‘Alcohol testing, drug testing, internal vetting, external vetting of new candidates, examination of financial records, substance misuse and abuse, sexual exploitation will be a priority, that policy is coming out. Prohibited spare-time activities is another new policy. It’s all about combating internal corruption.’
Sources say that while there is ‘anecdotal’ evidence of minor corruption in An Garda Síochána, there are no significant issues of corruption in the force and it is hoped the new unit will stamp out any that arise.
‘All that will be policed internally, where GSOC will deal with complaints against individual members the anti-corruption unit will be looking at the overall picture,’ a source added.
A Garda Inspectorate report published last month warned of the potential for gardaí to abuse their power and pointed to weaknesses in supervision. The Garda Representative Association criticised the report, saying it caused widespread anger with its 12,000 members who say there is no widespread abuse.
The MoS understands Garda management is also annoyed at the report, with one source saying it was ‘based on international trends and not evidence from the force’.