An Garda Siochana - Do you respect them?

delta720

medicman2009 wrote: »

They need to earn my respect first, in order to have it first.

So they have to do something for the personal benefit of you before you'll respect the job they do? That's a bit selfish is it not?

Is the fact they're working all night across Sligo while you sleep safely in your bed not enough?

BraziliaNZ

Dont respect them. Work right beside the bridewell. 90% of them are seriously out of shape, especially the women garda. They also allow all kinds of anti social behavior go on right outside the station, including drug dealing.
They couldn't intimidate a mouse. Take a look at the police in Europe, they get sh*t done. I also find it hard to take anyone serious in that STUPID looking outfit they wear.

Iron Hide

Like every job, Good ones and bad ones. For the most part though, i respect the law, but not necessarily those who uphold them.

Beau

Definitely yes! Just on the red Luas now and a fight was about to break out and bam! Two undercover gardes jump in and diffuse the situation, very impressed.

delta720

amacachi wrote: »

I have no respect for the organisation or for the corruption within it and the special branch right from the base level.
Aside from the corruption, any experience I've had with law enforcement in this country has been an encounter with some or more of semi-literacy, rudeness, ignorance of the rules of the road, incompetence and complete disregard for protocols.

I'm sure there are a few who give a **** and/or are sound, it would be a statistical miracle if there aren't.

amacachi AGS have got to be one of the least corrupt police forces in the world, sure there have been a few instances, by guards who were not just bad guards but bad people, but on a whole there is little to no corruption. You can't bribe your way out of a drink driving charge as in alot of new EU countries.

You seem to have a very elitist view, which is surprising coming from you, but considering most new guards are actually graduates I'm sure they have a certain level of literacy.

Ignorance of the rules of the road is surely them just replying to calls, though maybe in your driving experience you've experienced something different?;)

wyndhurst

The two guys from the North who tried to rob the drink-link in Castleisland were shown on the RTE news this week - big mean criminals - chased down on foot through surrounding fields by two Gardai (after a car chase) and the two guards had to go toe to toe with them to subdue them. The Gardai came out on top as evidenced by the face of one of the blokes.
Respect to those 'members' - 99% of citizens would poo their pants in that situation.

hsanz114clayton

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Dont respect them. Work right beside the bridewell. 90% of them are seriously out of shape, especially the women garda. They also allow all kinds of anti social behavior go on right outside the station, including drug dealing.
They couldn't intimidate a mouse. Take a look at the police in Europe, they get sh*t done. I also find it hard to take anyone serious in that STUPID looking outfit they wear.

You talk a load of SH1T.

BraziliaNZ

hsanz114clayton wrote: »

You talk a load of SH1T.

You should join a debate team

yoshytoshy

Theres not enough guards to make an honest opinion as far as I'm concerned. When I was a kid twenthy years ago ,there were guards all over the place.

Now I'm lucky to be reminded of what they look like:(

Dudess

Why would there be a decrease in the numbers of them?

BraziliaNZ

Dudess wrote: »

Why would there be a decrease in the numbers of them?

Doesn't the whole country want public servant numbers halved and 80% of their wages cut?

Warper

What are even worse are the judiciary in Ireland. There is absolutely no consistency on verdicts and they are untouchable. These are the most arrogant people in Ireland.

nlgbbbblth

Based on personal experiences to date - no.

Dudess

Any guards I've encountered have been all right (just run-of-the-mill stuff though: caught speeding - he was stern but actually lovely, breathalysing, friend getting assaulted, someone running into my car, passport forms, etc) and any guards I know personally are very decent people, but overall, An GS doesn't appear to be the most competent of police forces when it comes to the serious stuff.
I rang the guards twice ever: once because there was a lad just walking in front of cars and it was nearly dark - "Yeah yeah, I'll just type that up on my invisible typewriter" was pretty much the gist of his response. And he sounded about 10. The other time was because of a serious assault outside where I live and I was afraid someone was gonna get killed - total attitude of "Shur that place at night? What's new?!" Bowled over by the professionalism I was...

previous user

Nope they're slumlords.

epgc3fyqirnbsx

This is simply down to the fact that alot of people consider themselves better able to do other peoples jobs

They'd be singing a much different tune if they were members

Perhaps the naysayers should state their professions and see if we can punch theirs full of holes

Silly immature comments in this thread

Mr Jinx

El Horseboxo wrote: »

While they no longer have to certify copies of passports they still have to issue passport forms and sign them. As they are the only authorized authority that can do so. (sign and stamp, not issue forms). I deal with the guards a good few times a month in my job and i asked that before. Sure it even says it on the department of foreign affairs site.

This is not true. Passport forms can be stamped and signed by, Doctors, teachers, solicitors, Members of the clergy. I suggest next time you go to your local doctor to get it signed. It will prob then cost you 50 euro, might mind so much going to your local Garda station then.
also I would imagine that the Gardai are under no obligation what so ever to supply Passport forms. Thats the job of the dept of Foreign Affairs

amacachi

delta720 wrote: »

amacachi AGS have got to be one of the least corrupt police forces in the world, sure there have been a few instances, by guards who were not just bad guards but bad people, but on a whole there is little to no corruption. You can't bribe your way out of a drink driving charge as in alot of new EU countries.

I don't know about drink-driving but other driving offences involving penalty points seem easy enough to sort out with a even tenuous link to the Gardaí.
When it comes to higher-level corruption it's something that I'm certainly not going to talk about on a public forum because even the vaguest possible references to people or events would make it very obvious who and what I'm talking about. If you have a spare 15 minutes I could tell ya plenty.

You seem to have a very elitist view, which is surprising coming from you, but considering most new guards are actually graduates I'm sure they have a certain level of literacy.

Not elitest at all, I had to give a statement once (after a serious fcuk-up by the Gardaí when two of them seperately and on different days told me what the defendant was claiming and one told me what the accuser had said), and that was where I came across someone who not only couldn't write down what I actually said but also decided to make every sentence into something that a teacher would correct a 6 year old for saying. I'm just glad it didn't go to court because had the jury read or heard "my" statement they probably wouldn't have believed it was I who turned up to court. :pac:

Ignorance of the rules of the road is surely them just replying to calls, though maybe in your driving experience you've experienced something different?;)

One didn't know the difference between a "Stop" and a "Yield" sign and insisted to my father that he had to stop at a yield sign. After about 5 minutes of trying to explain the difference between the two words she changed tact and decided that her car was too close to the junction for him to have gone through. He wouldn't accept the warning or caution (not sure which it was) and told her that if she wanted to check the CCTV and issue a summons then go ahead. She didn't, strangely enough.

On the things I can say openly there's been a couple of incidents of the Gardaí just completely not giving a ****e;
1) Lads on the railway line throwing empty beer bottles into our garden and the neighbours' gardens. Called the Gardaí and they came down about 45 minutes later. My dad and I were outside and could hear the lads having a great laugh on the railway line while one of the Gardaí asked our names and address, ya know, the address they had just driven to. They then asked us questions for 5 minutes during which time they could have easily got the lads to leave (I'll not mention the particularly geography of where I live) and gotten back to the station.
2) I had my mobile phone stolen when I was about 11, they didn't bother to call around after taking a statement from my mate who had also had his phone stolen.
3) On Christmas Eve 3 years ago I was walking down Park Street and there was a brawl on the other side of the road. I walked on and saw two Gardaí just getting to Park Street from Dublin Street. I told them about the fight, they looked and then walked on in the same direction I was going instead of towards the fight, neither of them getting on the radio for the 2-3 minutes that I was present.
4) Last NYE there was a row within sight of my house with Machetes involved. I called the Gardaí 3 times over the course of half an hour and at least two other people on the street also called them. They didn't come down. As it happens I have a fair idea why they didn't come down and it had nothing to do with fighting crime elsewhere.
5) When I was 17 I was on the mitch from school and two plain-clothes lads searched me for drugs. They obviously found none but then tried to get me to tell them who was supplying drugs in the school and took my number and my mate's and said they'd tell the school we were on the mitch if we didn't co-operate, which was dead scary. :rolleyes: That's all pretty much fine but one of them either decided to mention my name to their mates or over the radio and I heard all about what happened from a middle-aged neighbour a couple of weeks later.

The rest are things that I'm sure as hell not going to talk about in a public forum.

hsanz114clayton

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Doesn't the whole country want public servant numbers halved and 80% of their wages cut?

Sure, for quangos unnecessary civil servants, senators and ministers.BUT NOT THE GARDAI.at the expense of our safety, there is not enough gardai for is to be considered halving them! and to suggest cutting there wages by 80%...are you stoned and not thinking straight or do you always talk sh1t.
Get real Mr.

weldoninhio

Don't respect them one little bit. In the course of my 28yo life i'd have reason to deal with them 3 times.

Once when i was assaulted in a nightclub, was knocked out with a headbutt. Totally unprovoked, the guy lives around the corner from me, don't know what he was on. Bouncers told me they had witnessed it, it was on CCTV etc. told me there was a police car across the road from the club and i should report it to them. They basically told me to get lost, i asked what should i do and was told get away from the car, report it tomorrow or we'll arrest you and if you bleed in the car on the way to the station you'll be done for damaging police property. Went to hospital etc. Next day rang the local station to make sure there'd be someone there to take a statement, was told that because it happened in the next town over, i had to go there to report it. Went there and was accused of being at fault in some way. Gave him all the details, where it happened, that there was CCTV footage, gave him the main bouncers number and told him where the guy lived. Was told "we'll look into it and get back to you". They must be building some case because its been 7/8 and nothing. Not even a courtesy, we're not prosecuting phone call or letter.

Second time, car broken into at about 330am, a Wednesday morning i scared them away. Imagine that, a citizen chasing down 4 scummers in his bare-feet and boxers. They had bent the top of the door out get in. Called guards, we'll have someone there in the morning!!! Got here at about 10am, said they've been seeing a lot of this in the area but theres nothing we can do. We won't be able to even get prints with this rain.

Third time, on the old Dublin-Belfast road waiting to pull across to a garage. Drunk driver in a jeep swerves from one side of the road to the other and takes out the side of my car. If i'd been 5 ft further back i'd be nothing more than a statistic now. Turned and followed him while calling the police. He turned off the main road after a while. Explain situation to Garda, who tells me to stop following him as they wouldn't be able to find us. He subsequently pulls the jeep across the middle of the road we are on, falls out of his seat onto the ground, pulls himself up and around the back of the jeep where he tries to urinate. I tell the garda how drunk he is and that i can get out and take his keys from the igniton, so he isn't a danger to anyone else. Garda tells me to let him drive home and they will question him as soon as they can get someone to him. At the court case i found out that the garda arrived to his house on the following Wednesday, 3 days later. Driver claimed he was tired and didn't realise he had hit another car!!

Great bunch of lads altogether.

entropi

I'm not gonna vote but I'll add my 2c: the majority of Gardaí I've had any sort of dealings with have been pretty sound tbh, I can't just tar the whole lot of them because of a fair few that are really bad at doing their job (like those at the student march, some local ones who in the past have been major pricks etc). Overall, they do a decent job, with the pitiful resources they are given and stupid meaningless tasks they sometimes have to do (personal drivers/deskwork when they could be on the streets).

Mars Bar

I do, although I managed to get unlucky with them last weekend. 2 idiots and 1 nice one all in less than 24 hours.

One guy trying to take names of injured passengers on a bus and using a passenger to hold a phone for light so he could take the names. Ambulance people were far from impressed and it caused tension in what was already a very sensitive atmosphere.

The other idiot who expected me to walk to the station in the pouring rain with gammy knees after said accident coz he wanted to catch lunch at 2 and not get stuck in the traffic. Wasn't having any of that and made him come out to the house or he'd get no statement.

The third guy used to share a house with my aunt, he helped me retrieve my suitcase and was very, very nice!

TrollHammaren

Likewise, I'm not going to vote because it's not really a fair question. Gardaí definitely do get my respect by default, and absolutely get my courtesy. I've called the Gardaí quite a few times, and most of the time the help I got was exceptional to the point that I sent a letter of thanks to their station.

There are definitely some dickheads, I'm not going to deny that. I've never been caught breaking the law, but a few times I was unfairly suspected of doing so. Most of the time they were grand, but a few times they were quite aggressive, discourteous, and displaying very poor social skills.

As an institution that employs humans, you're always going to get dickheads; it's just a fact. You could argue that a better recruitment system is needed to weed out the power-trippers, aggressors, and people with caveman social skills, but I don't know enough about it and don't want to sound like just another opinionated, ignorant member of the public.

For now, I'll commend the work of those who truly do a good job. When I deal with a Garda, I'm automatically going to be courteous, just like I would with a cashier at McDonalds, and if I have to deal with a bad one, I'll be sure report them, rather than berate them on boards.

Liam Byrne

Crosáidí wrote: »

If the gardaí show me respect, I'll show them respect, it's give and take on both sides

Chicken-and-egg. Why don't you show them respect first ?

Nailz

Ah yeah for the most parts, I'm sure they're good people, some have bad days, but don't we all? Although, saying that, working in a public service you shouldn't let your bad mood come out on the job. I disagree with the fact they have to enforce the law, I'm born with morals and all that, it has to be done.

K-9

I can see it from both sides. My Dad was a Guard and when he passed away, we got many a comment about him being fair and giving people second chances etc. I would have had huge respect for many of his colleagues from his era and generation.

When I was growing up, I got the usual comments from the usual sources, to be expected. There was an obvious hatred for anything to do with authority and law and order in the state and he represented a target for that. The seem types would be the first to scream brutality or whatever you are having yourself. When they wanted a passport or dole form signed at 10 O'Clock at night, he had no problem doing them a favour.

I also know of the crook element in the force! Strangely none of them turned up at his funeral, no loss there! You also have the stickler for the law element, harmless enough, but annoying.

In my experience, if you show them respect, you'll get it back. Then again, I've had very few dealings on a personal basis with them, but I'd hate to come across the bad eggs in it!

Society has changed in the last 20/30 years, far more me feinism, both in the Guards and outside it. It was an honour for him to serve and he was thankful for it, meant everything to him, defined him. I think that is bye and large still there in the force, but they were different times. The state was under attack from rogue elements who thought nothing of killing a Guard.

Garda Siochana Roll of Honour - PoliceHistory.com

He was involved in the aftermath of a hotel fire in Bundoran in 1980, 10 people died in that, including a family. I always remember that as an example of the type of work involved.

I know the events in Donegal tarnished the force for him. It just didn't have the same importance for him after that.

Society is more selfish now and the Guards reflect that IMO.

Kimono-Girl

starbelgrade wrote: »

I've never had any problems with the Gardai on the street. I did get arrested a few times, but I was young & dumb & there was good cause for it.

but as Biggins said, a few rotten apples don't always spoil the barrel.

+1

i got in trouble with them once but i was young stupid and out of my mind (and out of my depth)....so to be honest they did what was right at the time!


but mostly i found them to be a sound bunch yes like any group of people there will be bad eggs, but for the most part they are just people with a serious job to do and not an easy one at that.

so yeah they've earned my respect!

ajdb

generally speaking the Garda are ok.... obviously things like the 'blue flu' and the reaction of some officers to student protests are a disgrace.

Bosco boy

mars bar wrote: »

I do, although I managed to get unlucky with them last weekend. 2 idiots and 1 nice one all in less than 24 hours.

One guy trying to take names of injured passengers on a bus and using a passenger to hold a phone for light so he could take the names. Ambulance people were far from impressed and it caused tension in what was already a very sensitive atmosphere.

The other idiot who expected me to walk to the station in the pouring rain with gammy knees after said accident coz he wanted to catch lunch at 2 and not get stuck in the traffic. Wasn't having any of that and made him come out to the house or he'd get no statement.

The third guy used to share a house with my aunt, he helped me retrieve my suitcase and was very, very nice!

maybe he thought someone would drive you if your knees were so bad! And as for the guy on the bus with the phone taking names, well that's his job, he was there to help and just maybe he had given his torch to someone to assist outside the bus, I know the incident and all emergency services at it did an excellent job in terrible conditions with multiple casualties, as they say you just
can't please everyone! Hope you recover fully!

stovelid

I respect people on merit, not a group or organization of people blindly.