Gardaí keep getting the wrong house.

_blank_

A friend of mine (a non boards user, he asked me to find out as much as I could about this for him) moved into his house three years ago.

When he moved in the neighbours told him that the previous occupiers had had some dealings with the Gardaí, in fact they had been involved in some criminal activity.

In the last three years, since he moved in, he has had Gardaí at his house on a fairly regular basis, probably once or twice every three months, at all times of the day and night, serving summonses to people who no longer live there, or in fact just looking for them.

He has told the Gardaí this each and every time they have called. The person named on the summons no longer lives in the house, is never in the house, has no dealings with the new owner, is not related to the new owner, and each and every time the Gardaí have said sorry, and that it won't happen again, which has turned out to be complete bullshít, as a couple or three months later, they arrive again. Same story.

My friend has received calls from neighbours when he was in work saying the Gardaí have been around knocking on his door, he has been called to at eight in the evening when he is relaxing after work, has been woken from bed at eleven or twelve at night with them calling.

It all came to a head today, when the neighbour called him and said, once again, the Gardaí had been around, knocked on the door, and obviously got no reply. He is understandably annoyed at this stage, so he rang the station local to him, left his contact number.

I advised my friend to get in touch with the GSOC and they told him to get all correspondence together so they can investigate. What does this mean? There has been NO correspondence between him and the Gardaí, just misplaced summonses and cases of mistaken identity.

The Gard called him at tea-time, and he explained the situation. The Gard asked him HIS date of birth, and then proceded to ask him "Are you sure you're not the person I'm looking for, the DoB's are similar". I mean, for christ sake, how has the the cheek to ask that? He then said that he'd need to see my friend's ID, that he was entitled to ask for this (is he, over the phone, without any reason to think my friend has done any wrong?) and that the onus was on my friend to prove to him that he wasn't the person being looked for, and to call to the station with ID.

He also said that he had no such record of my friend ever having informed the station that the person they were looking for had moved away, again, more bullshít meaning that either he wasn't arsed looking, or the station didn't actually care when they had been told.

As soon as my friend mentioned that he had been onto the GSOC, the Garda's tone changed totally, and he said that it would definitely never happen again.

He is extremely upset and angry about this.

Now, I've told him to take it up with the station superintendant by registered letter, asking for a reply and a meeting with the super, at my friend's convenience, to clear this up for once and for all. It was fairly suspicious the way the Garda changed tack as soon as the GSOC was mentioned, I have to say.

So, how would I find out either the phone number, or indeed the Super's name, in that station where the Garda is based?

Thanks.

metman

Interesting that you're posting on here on 'behalf' of your friend. My first suggestion would be to take your anti-police sentiment to some place other than a police forum.

Jog on.

_blank_

metman wrote: »

Interesting that you're posting on here instead of your friend. My first suggestion would be to take your anti-police sentiment to some place other than a police forum.

Jog on.

What?

I have no anti-police agenda.

And it's not as I'm anonymously posting, is it?

And it IS actually for a friend.

newballsplease

metman wrote: »

Interesting that you're posting on here on 'behalf' of your friend. My first suggestion would be to take your anti-police sentiment to some place other than a police forum.

Jog on.

that totally uncalled for imo.

metman

Ok. Taking you at face value. Advise your friend to use a bit of common sense. Forget about 'suspicious Gardai' reacting to GSOC. Most members couldn't care less about GSOC they're so far removed from day to day policing.

Your mate needs to speak to the Guards. Simple as. Its not a major issue. If what you say is accurate then local police records simply need updating.

Look here and pick out your mate's local station. Ask to speak to the officer in charge and explain the circs to him/her.

Its not rocket science. As for GSOC. We'll they'll probably advise you to do what I've just advised you to do.

metman

newballsplease wrote: »

that totally uncalled for imo.

Thanks for your opinion.

_blank_

metman wrote: »

Ok. Taking you at face value.

Why wouldn't you in the first place.

metman wrote: »

Advise your friend to use a bit of common sense.

He already has, imo. It has been ongoing since he moved in three years ago, and each time he has told them the same thing.

metman wrote: »

Look here and pick out your mate's local station. Ask to speak to the officer in charge and explain the circs to him/her.

Has been done numerous times. Only he spoke to the person who answered the phone.

But thanks for your insight into the GSOC and that. You seem well informed.

metman

Mate, let me be less subtle. If you're looking to troll, which you clearly are, might I suggest you do it someplace where you're less likely to be so obvious.

Ta.

_blank_

Tell me, after 4.5 years, and 16k+ posts on boards, why would I pick this forum to troll?

I mod other forums on boards, it would hardly be proper of me to start trolling another one, would it?

Esel

I'm sure the patronising and confrontational responses from metman will help to improve relations between the public and the Gardaí.

Random

metman - you seem to be on the offensive every quickly here .. is there something off thread or elsewhere with this guy or something?

My suggestion was gonna be to just give the Garda the keys and the alarm code and tell them to come and go as they please .. they might even put out the rubbish lol. Anyway .. moving on more seriously ...

Has your friend called down the station in person and asked to speak to the person in charge? If you want the Super then just address the letter to "The Superindendant, Craggy Island Garda Station, Dublin 4" or whatever ..

metman

Des I'm not interested if you've been on here 30 years and have half a million posts to your name. If you read your first post on here you clearly have an axe to grind, per yourself, without any grounds. Were it your friend grinding said axe, then perhaps he'd have some sympathy. But for you to come on here and to start casting aspersions a la:

"I mean, for christ sake, how has the the cheek to ask that? He then said that he'd need to see my friend's ID, that he was entitled to ask for this (is he, over the phone, without any reason to think my friend has done any wrong?) and that the onus was on my friend to prove to him that he wasn't the person being looked for, and to call to the station with ID.

He also said that he had no such record of my friend ever having informed the station that the person they were looking for had moved away, again, more bullshít meaning that either he wasn't arsed looking, or the station didn't actually care when they had been told".

Geezer you can jog on if you think you're going to play that card.

Esel, as above.

Marcus.Aurelius

Des,

The issue is that the records for the offenders whose names the summons are issued in need to be updated to reflect their current address. Unfortunately, this takes time as resources are always stretched to the limit.

There is a lot of distaste among the rank and file as regards the GSOC, they are not guards themselves and yet they claim to have authority to judge them nonetheless. Your friend is right to write to the Supt for help, but the GSOC are a last resort and only serve to get backs up.

Hope things are resolved quickly for your friend Des.

Keep us posted if you can.

metman, lay off a bit, I don't visit this forum much and am starting to regret it already, Des asked a question, a bit harsh with his words, but not deserving of your tirade.

metman

Chief Admiral wrote: »

metman, lay off a bit, I don't visit this forum much and am starting to regret it already, Des asked a question, a bit harsh with his words, but not deserving of your tirade.

I think the comments I highlighted deserved robust challenge.

Marcus.Aurelius

metman wrote: »

I think the comments I highlighted deserved robust challenge.

I appreciate the sentiment and I've come accross anti-guard stuff before. But I just leave that end of things to moderators at this stage. There is a certain duty of care I think though, even off duty but online, no harm in some good PR!

kmart6

metman wrote: »

Mate, let me be less subtle. If you're looking to troll, which you clearly are, might I suggest you do it someplace where you're less likely to be so obvious.

WTF are you on?! Des,a troll?!....get a grip would ya! He clearly stated that his friend has asked him to find out about it, and he was posting here looking for peoples opinions on the matter! How has any of it got 'anti-police sentiment' in it?!

wicklaman83

dont be such a tosser metman.surely your still allowed to ask for advise on these forums.just because you dont happen to agree.OP i was the same when i bought a car which was well known for the drugs trade before i bought it and i was lucky if i was only stopped the once in one night.most nights i was stopped and car stripped apart in the middle of the main street of the town.before this car i never had any dealings with any gardai(so no axe to grind) so i contacted citizens advice and they told me to record all contact with gardai in relation with car.time,place content of conversation and shoulder numbers of guards and contact the super.the number would be in yellow pages,after having a meeting with the super,4 days later i received a letter from the chief-super apoligising and assuring it wont happen again.3 months later i can drive from A to B without being stopped and humiliated.

metman

Chief Admiral wrote: »

I appreciate the sentiment and I've come accross anti-guard stuff before. But I just leave that end of things to moderators at this stage. There is a certain duty of care I think though, even off duty but online, no harm in some good PR!

I appreciate the back up too. Cheers.

Esel

Lads,

I'm going jogging, then a game of cards later. Care to join me?

OP: I'd say a letter to the Super should sort out the issue.

TheNog

OP there is possibly a simple reason behind your friends problem here. It could be case that the previous occupier has left the country or to date cannot be found inside this country. If this is the case then our computers cannot be updated with the new address so therefore your friends house will appear as the last updated home address of this individual. There is no option on our computer to disable or assign a ' address unknown'

I can understand your friend is frustrated as are the gardai trying to find this man. As suggested before your friend should arrange to meet the local Super or at the very least write a letter with maybe a copy of a utility bill and a copy of id (driving license). The super should be able to help. If you have a problem locating what the station the super is at then ask here and we will help. As for knowing his/her name there is no need as ' Superintendent, >NAME< station etc will suffice.

Diairist

here's what might be a stupid suggestion: are all these gardai coming from the same station? Could some be (I don't know) in a 2nd tier or county - level office and some from one station, others from a differnt district where the naughty person did somethin? Good point from previous poster: if there were 2 addresses on computer record and one is 'DLO' then does the other one float to the top?

It is crucial the shoulder numbers of the 'callers' are written down

IRLConor

TheNog wrote: »

There is no option on our computer to disable or assign a ' address unknown'

Slightly OT, but surely the best course of action would be to set the address to some "known unknown" address like the address of the station? Something like:

NO LONGER AT LAST ADDRESS, Store St Garda Station, Store St, Dublin 1

I don't know if it keeps a history of addresses which you can view, if not I suppose you'd want to keep the old one as a "last known" address. If you can see the history then there's little to lose by adding something like that as the "current" address.

WindSock

Well if your mate has nothing to hide he shouldn't have trouble going to his nearest station and producing ID. Could he write letter about who he is and where he lives, along with proof of address and get it signed by a Garda, then keep a copy for himself and give copies to the station? Or has he done this before? He really needs a hard copy of something official looking to show them.






Oh and Metman, I really hope you aren't a Garda.

Beruthiel

metman wrote: »

Interesting that you're posting on here on 'behalf' of your friend. My first suggestion would be to take your anti-police sentiment to some place other than a police forum.

Des is a long time member of this site, a lot of us know him and if he says this is happening to a friend, then it is.
Your 'guilty until proven innocent' attitude sucks and I sincerely hope you are not a member of the force because we can do without that kind of attitude.

If I were Des's friend, I'd be more than pissed if this was happening to me on a regular basis.

Eru

IRLConor wrote: »

Slightly OT, but surely the best course of action would be to set the address to some "known unknown" address like the address of the station? Something like:

NO LONGER AT LAST ADDRESS, Store St Garda Station, Store St, Dublin 1

I don't know if it keeps a history of addresses which you can view, if not I suppose you'd want to keep the old one as a "last known" address. If you can see the history then there's little to lose by adding something like that as the "current" address.

The system isnt that sensible Im afraid. All addresses remain for life on the record and the best you can do is show one as 'false' but nor 'past' or 'old' address. Even then doing a simple search wont flag thats it not the persons real address as you need to enter the detailed screen to find out.

As for the original OP, this happens Im afraid, people are getting bail even when the Gardai object because addresses being given are bull. So much so that we have to accept hotel rooms, hostels, etc. Then theres renting, staying with friends, etc

The best thing to do is find out who the community Garda in the area is and tell them about. Be nice and explain that you dont mind Gardai calling when they have to but its getting a bit much now and drawn out.

You would be surprised but the person is probable still using the address as again, the system is not designed for people being misleading with information nor does it allow for some rookie putting the address on again even after it exists. I have seen the exact same adddress with 6 or 7 seperate location IDs.

Anyway, ask this Garda to put a warning on the address and the previous occupiers warning people that he has moved on and the address should not be accepted as 'insert your name here' now resides here and if getting slighlty annoyed at this stage. Should solve the problem and save all concerned hassle plus haivng the added advantage of getting Mr Criminal locked up for breaching bail and giving false details.

As for the other comments here, Metman is entitled to an opinion and I agree with his suspicion. Isnt it one of the oldest jokes in the book? Something being 'for a friend'? He is a longtime user of this area within Boards and carries a lot more weight than all the people posting purely to attack him that have no other business here. In fact I think this thread is in need of some spring cleaning to remove all the non topic mud slinging.

Beruthiel

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

As for the other comments here, Metman is entitled to an opinion and I agree with his suspicion.

So, you're telling me that there is a 'guilty till proven innocent' attitude and this is what we should expect when coming in contact with a cop?

He is a longtime user of this area within Boards and carries a lot more weight than all the people posting

Incorrect.

purely to attack him that have no other business here.

Also, incorrect.
I'm appalled at the attitude on this thread from what seem to be two men on the force.

Honey-ec

Beruthiel wrote: »

I'm appalled at the attitude on this thread from what seem to be two men on the force.

+1

Whether Des was posting on behalf of a friend or he is the person in question, his query was legitimate and after several re-readings I fail to see any anti-police sentiment in it at all.

pvt.joker

Interesting story Des, I've only just seen it.

For the record, I don't think you're trolling at all.

The first thing I would do, as you suggested to your mate , is to meet with the local Super. They're normally decent reasonable people, and I would bet he/she would be shocked to hear of the goings on.
I would bet money on them stopping calling around if he makes the super aware of whats happening.
You'll get ignorant people in every profession, guards are no exception unfortunately.

ojewriej

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

As for the other comments here, Metman is entitled to an opinion and I agree with his suspicion. Isnt it one of the oldest jokes in the book? Something being 'for a friend'? He is a longtime user of this area within Boards and carries a lot more weight than all the people posting purely to attack him that have no other business here. In fact I think this thread is in need of some spring cleaning to remove all the non topic mud slinging.

Metman is by all means entitled to an opinion , but I too think he came down on Des a bit too harshly. Des might not be a regular user here, but he certainly is an established poster and mod on other forums, so I wouldn't call him a troll so lightly.

As for "for a friend" issue - what difference does it make? We have no reason not to believe him, but even if for some reason he prefers to say it isn't about him, so what?

As for his post, he sure seems to be annoyed with the situation, which I think is understandable, but I really don't see it as an attack on GS, or even any particular Guard, but rather on the system. Which as you said it yourself in your explanation of the problem (which was very good by the way), isn't that sensible.

He had a question for a Guard, and instead of an answer, he was accused of trolling. Not cool.

parsi

metman wrote: »

Ok. Taking you at face value. Advise your friend to use a bit of common sense. Forget about 'suspicious Gardai' reacting to GSOC. Most members couldn't care less about GSOC they're so far removed from day to day policing.

Your mate needs to speak to the Guards. Simple as. Its not a major issue. If what you say is accurate then local police records simply need updating.
Its not rocket science. As for GSOC. We'll they'll probably advise you to do what I've just advised you to do.

Strange.

It seems to be rocket science.

My current neighbours are an elderly couple and after they bought the house they had multiple visits from the Guards serving summons on previous tenants. Each time it happened they told the Guards that yer man wasn't living there, that they were the new owners and each time they got a less than helpful reply and were greeted with suspicion.

It eventually died off but by that time they had a lot of grief from Guards who should have shown sensitivity and cop-on.

EDIT: This really happened to my neighbours, not me. So please don't go getting suspicious or forming a false opinion.

Paulzx

Des

Tell your mate to forget about ringing the station and to call down in person. Look to speak to the Inspector on duty and explain the situation. A few years back i had reason to visit a garda station because of the behaviour of a garda towards a younger memeber of my family. This was the morning after the incident in question. I was immediately shown to the inspectors office and he dealt with the case very professionaly.

What i am saying is that if he doesn't engage with someone in authority and impress upon them how serious he considers this, he will get no satisfaction


Best of luck

tallaght01

Agree with paulzx.

Go straight to the organ grinder in cases like this.

civdef

Probably is a good time to remind everyone it's nice to be nice. To an extent, posters have to be taken at face value, so lets not get too annoyed with each other.

Trojan911

Des wrote: »

Now, I've told him to take it up with the station superintendant by registered letter, asking for a reply and a meeting with the super, at my friend's convenience, to clear this up for once and for all. It was fairly suspicious the way the Garda changed tack as soon as the GSOC was mentioned, I have to say.

So, how would I find out either the phone number, or indeed the Super's name, in that station where the Garda is based?Thanks.

Des,

The above paragraph is probably the best option to get this cleared up. I appreciate it is very frustrating for your buddy and having Gardai calling to the premises so regularly draws unwanted attention to your buddy from the neighbours etc.

As fast as the Gardai can flag up an address as a Prom/Nom they can just as fast flag it down.

Also check if your buddy is registered to that address through the local authority. If the perp prior to him is still registered then have it ammended so when a voters ceck is done it will only show your buddy as the resident. I'm sure the officers are not deliberately doing this to your buddy. They have a proceedure to follow which could be resolved with your buddy meeting the Super.

Hope that helps.

Victor

IRLConor wrote: »

I don't know if it keeps a history of addresses which you can view

There is at least some record of past address. A garda with a witness summons went to my old address when he couldn't find me at my current address - of course if he phoned me.

metman

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

As for the other comments here, Metman is entitled to an opinion and I agree with his suspicion. Isnt it one of the oldest jokes in the book? Something being 'for a friend'? He is a longtime user of this area within Boards and carries a lot more weight than all the people posting purely to attack him that have no other business here. In fact I think this thread is in need of some spring cleaning to remove all the non topic mud slinging.

Karl cheers for that mate.

I do however want to apologise for being a bit too skeptical and dismissive towards Des. A few too many beers didn't help either. Apologies Des, and to any others who were offended by my dismissive and unhelpful comments (i.e big mouth).

Victor

metman wrote: »

A few too many beers didn't help either.

O_o Go here next time. http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055067267&page=4232

Mutz

metman wrote: »

Karl cheers for that mate.

I do however want to apologise for being a bit too skeptical and dismissive towards Des. A few too many beers didn't help either. Apologies Des, and to any others who were offended by my dismissive and unhelpful comments (i.e big mouth).

To be honest, you didn't sound like your usual self. We all have days like that though.

Esel

What's the penalty around here for PWI?

metman

PWI?

_blank_

Posting with intent.

metman

Thanks for that Des. Can you clarify what 'posting with intent is'?

_blank_

metman wrote: »

Thanks for that Des. Can you clarify what 'posting with intent is'?

Well, it was a guess tbh.

metman

No worries Des, Esel, maybe you could assist with your last?

deadwood

Posting While Intoxicated. (hic)

metman

deadwood wrote: »

Posting While Intoxicated. (hic)

Cheers mate. Not spending all my time on chat forums I don't know these things.

Esel if you want to know why I'd had a few beers and was a less social than usual, sorry PWI, then please feel free to pm me.

Eru

I stand by everything I said, users came in, attacked regular users here then left. No comments on the subject and no other posts in this area.

Only one person here who posted in response to me even acknowledged that I had extensively and completely answered the OPs question.

BTW he wont get near the Supers office.

CLADA

+1.

The OP could have asked his question in a couple of sentences, instead we were treated to a whinge interlaced with provocative language.

Q. How do you contact you're local Superintendent?

A. With about half the effort it took to contact GSOC.

Esel

Deadwood nailed it. Posting While Intoxicated! Made it up on the fly, thought it was a fair TLA, close to the American DWI/DUI. I'm sure I'm not the first one to 'think of' PWI though, so I probably didn't invent it.

I can claim credit for a good stab at a Dublin term for online pron, though - e-g**!

carradonna

I think a quick letter to the local inspector/superintendent would sort out the problem. I can see why gardai treat answers of he/she doesnt live here with a bit of suspicion because i'm sure some shady people use this tactic so summons are not served allowing them get off with crimes.
I can imagine that it is very frustarting having guards calling to the door on a regular basis but i wouldnt imagine they are doing it maliciously.

tbh

des any update on this? Did your mate have any joy?