[Article] Gardaí to patrol buses, trains at Christmas

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/4488394?view=Eircomnet

Gardaí to patrol buses, trains at Christmas
From:ireland.com
Monday, 22nd November, 2004

Gardaí will step up their efforts to stamp out public disorder on late-night transport services over the Christmas period in Dublin.

Operation Freeflow, the Garda's annual push to improve the flow of traffic as shoppers and drinkers swarm to the city centre over the festive season, begins next Monday and runs until Friday January 7th.

Increased attention this year will be paid to late-night transport services as revellers return from the city centre.

The services often witness violence and public disorder in the early hours of the morning, and the Garda today confirmed that terminals and all services including the Luas - in operation at Christmas for the first time - will come under added scrutiny.

While a Garda presence aboard transport services and around bus stops and terminal is not unusual, the force today confirmed that added attention will be paid.

"As part of the Garda operational plan there is provision for gardaí to monitor terminals and the various modes of transport to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers and staff during nitelink and late night services," a Garda spokeswoman told ireland.com.

A Department of Transport spokeswoman confirmed gardaí would travel on buses, trains and trams.

The move follows meetings involving the Garda, and officials from the Department and Dublin Transport Office to discuss implementation of Operation Freeflow.

chewy

of late night darts..

i know ti logic doen;t fully work out.. but sometimes guards being present exaserbates trouble rather then preventing it

pork99

chewy wrote:

of late night darts..

i know ti logic doen;t fully work out.. but sometimes guards being present exaserbates trouble rather then preventing it

You just need enough of them prepared to crack skulls. I hope they do this mob handed with riot kit and alsatians etc. If anyone f-s with them they should regret it.

I rarely go on night buses nowadays but the last time I was one (last year) there was a large anti-social vermin element who I would love to see getting battered to a pulp every time they step out of line. Unfortunately in this country even the middle classes have marked scum tendencies (e.g. Blackrock College).

weehamster

Why only at christmas? This should be permanent 365 days a year. What. Thugs only come out to play at christmas?

pork99

Actually what would work better would be to put a couple of plain-clothes officers on each night bus and have the "heavy mob" snatch squads patrolling in vans to be could called in if trouble kicks off.

SickCert

I better stop for red lights and obey the speed limits!!

Just the driver getting arrested again. :eek:

Crossley

weehamster wrote:

Why only at christmas? This should be permanent 365 days a year. What. Thugs only come out to play at christmas?

Agreed. We need a permanent transport police force in this country. Come to think of we could do with a permanent professional police force full-stop.

the_syco

*note to self*
don't smoke weed @ the back of the 4:30 nitelink, even when its passed to me.

also, point out any suspicous looking sober people out. they may be a cop.

:cool:

sliabh

I this something the new traffic corps will be involved with or will they be limited to working the roads?

chewy

describe to me a situation where you've actually witnessed first hand the need for police in the train or dart...

apart from annoyance things like the sort pork wants to beat people for ?

i know ill proably get loads of replies


edit: what i really mean is the ratio to [where guards are needed anywhere, any time, for any reason] : [to "anti-social behaviour on buses/trains" ] : [to guards you've seen acting on something on buses/trains]

sure there's very often a group of 6 big men on the darts either with or with obviously security jackets... im sorta glad they are there, I've only ever seen them deal with drunks and kids drinking at stations.. never heard mayn stories about them

sliabh

chewy wrote:

describe to me a situation where you've actually witnessed first hand the need for police in the train or dart...

apart from annoyance things like the sort pork wants to beat people for ?

I have only ever seen one incident, on a night link several years ago. There was some sort of ruckus upstairs. But we were still at College Green so two Guards arrived in minutes and took a guy off. He had no shirt on and we could see big big marks on his chest and back where he had been flaked.

jlang

Please excuse my sheltered ignorance - "flaked?"

sliabh

jlang wrote:

Please excuse my sheltered ignorance - "flaked?"

Sorry, must be Limerick slang (or poor spelling of a term always spoken), to flake someome is to hit them

Horeb

weehamster wrote:

Why only at christmas? This should be permanent 365 days a year. What. Thugs only come out to play at christmas?

Good Point

kenmc

I bet the f*ckers will get away without paying too, while us poor buggers get to pay through the nose....

John R

kenmc wrote:

I bet the f*ckers will get away without paying too, while us poor buggers get to pay through the nose....

Free travel to Guardai who are willing to act as uniformed security sounds like a great deal for the public IMO.

SickCert

The garda are allowed free travel any where on DB buses on production of a warrant card.

sliabh

SickCert wrote:

The garda are allowed free travel any where on DB buses on production of a warrant card.

That's not hte only place. A friend was telling me about his mate who uses his Garda ID to get into night clubs too!

He does get stopped when he is visibly plastered though

Hagar

If they put a Garda on every bus and train all us drunks could drive home in safety.....