The Irish and our attitude to our Police force

AudreyHepburn

Apologies for yet another Garda thread but I want to see what peoples opinions are on the shocking lack of respect shown towards our Gardai.

As far as I can tell few other Police Forces in the world are subject are to the kind of abuse the Gardai are (though by all means correct me if wrong). Most societies in fact would consider them the finest and the pinnacles of society particularly in the US.

Do you think the attitude to the Irish police is worse than the attitude to other forces around the world?

And if so why do so many people see the Gardai idiots, thugs, scumbags etc?

thetonynator

you forgot pigs . . .

Chris P. Bacon

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

And if so why do so many people see the Gardai idiots, thugs, scumbags etc?

Because they are.

Biggins

A very short answer might be that we only hear about the bad things which some get up to from our forums, bar stools or blowing off steam after some feel they have been grieved!
The rest of the time? The vast majority of their quiet background work, you know, the stuff that actually put criminals behind bars - and that includes mountains of form filling and paperwork, besides the actual foot work including chasing people and/or leads, goes unheard of most of the time as does the stresses of doing it all while vilified by a loud but small minority!

AudreyHepburn

Biggins wrote: »

A very short answer might be that we only hear about the bad things which some get up to from our forums, bar stools or blowing off steam after some feel they have been grieved!
The rest of the time? The vast majority of their quiet background work, you know, the stuff that actually put criminals behind bars - and that includes mountains of form filling and paperwork, besides the actual foot work including chasing people and/or leads, goes unheard of most of the time as does the stresses of doing it all while vilified by a loud but small minority!

Agreed and I am wondering why people allow what a small minority do to colour their views of the majority?

AudreyHepburn

Chris P. Bacon wrote: »

Because they are.

Care to expand that a little. I was hoping for a proper discussion out of this and not that kind of cop out/

Chuck Stone

They only recently began to call people 'Sir' and 'Madam'. Some of them are ignorant bastards and don't realise that they're a service...

yes a SERVICE.

Biggins

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Agreed and I am wondering why people allow what a small minority do to colour their views of the majority?

Again short answer: For the same reason possible that allows some bad groups up North to do what they do.
A majority of others stay silent for own reasons, some obvious and other reasons maybe not so obvious.

Bosco boy

I wouldn't judge it by a few pricks on boards.ie

number10a

Try going to them to get a form signed. Passport, Garda ID, lost driver's licence etc. YOU have to tell the guard where they need to sign the form and what he/she needs to do. I really have no idea what they do in Templemore. They are absolutely clueless.

hondasam

everyone has different experiences with the gardai, some good more bad.

OP **** happens deal with it. respect people and they will respect you.

I Don't have a problem with AGS.

Chris P. Bacon

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Care to expand that a little. I was hoping for a proper discussion out of this and not that kind of cop out/

No,im not really into giving proper discussions.You asked a question and I gave my answer.

AudreyHepburn

hondasam wrote: »

everyone has different experiences with the gardai, some good more bad.

OP **** happens deal with it. respect people and they will respect you.

I Don't have a problem with AGS.

First I wasn't making a complaint as such so I don't need the snippy 'deal with it'.

Secondly I'm making the point that people don't respect the Gardai yet they expect to be treated like royalty by them. The second half of the point I highlighted is what I am saying is being missed/ignored by a lot of people.

Chris P. Bacon

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

First I wasn't making a complaint as such so I don't need the snippy 'deal with it'.

Secondly I'm making the point that people don't respect the Gardai yet they expect to be treated like royalty by them. The second half of the point I highlighted is what I am saying is being missed/ignored by a lot of people.

Just out of interest are you a Guard?

AudreyHepburn

Chris P. Bacon wrote: »

No,im not really into giving proper discussions.You asked a question and I gave my answer.

I asked what you thought and why.

For once I want a Garda thread that actually involves actual discussion and debate not just slagging/bitching.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

From my dealings with the Gardai, my problems were that they just weren't very intelligent and were convinced that I was trying to be a smart arse. It was as if they were under the impression that I was guilty of something, but if they just kept responding to questions with questions of their own, they'd work it out with time.

That said, I have had extremely positive experiences with guards too.

AudreyHepburn

Chris P. Bacon wrote: »

Just out of interest are you a Guard?

No. Why? Can you only support them if you are one?

hondasam

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

First I wasn't making a complaint as such so I don't need the snippy 'deal with it'.

Secondly I'm making the point that people don't respect the Gardai yet they expect to be treated like royalty by them. The second half of the point I highlighted is what I am saying is being missed/ignored by a lot of people.

you looking for a job with AGS, they are not recruiting for about four years.

Their attitude to our police force? Are you not Irish?

AudreyHepburn

Bosco boy wrote: »

I wouldn't judge it by a few pricks on boards.ie

I don't really, I'm just interested in people's opinions!

AudreyHepburn

hondasam wrote: »

you looking for a job with AGS, they are not recruiting for about four years.

Again can you only support them if you are one?

AudreyHepburn

bluewolf wrote: »

Their attitude to our police force? Are you not Irish?

I am, my bad . Didn't even notice that, thanks.

HellFireClub

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

I asked what you thought and why.

For once I want a Garda thread that actually involves actual discussion and debate not just slagging/bitching.

The Garda on the street who keeps me safe at night, I have the absolute height of respect for. However the characters who are turning up at annual conferences shyteing on about how the poor Garda is living in poverty, I hold in contempt... I know, they can be one and the same at times, a paradox...

Eric Cartman

we all pay our taxes to fund these lads going around doing their jobs , unfortunatly like myself alot of people in this country only see the gards in a negative way (e.g. being delayed coming home from work for a garda checkpoint, gards giving you a hard time for the tax being out in your car for only a month , spending too much time taking small amounts of cannabis off young lads or getting people for doing 10km over the speed limit on a motorway.

the gardai on the most part do a good job behind the scenes (arresting drug dealers and getting gangland criminals off the streets etc...) but you only ever see this in the papers.

the problem is how they deploy people , im sure if they removed most of the lads off traffic core and stopped hastling people for personal use drug posession, pub closing times or other minor things etc.. and started cracking down on real crime people would have a better opinion, also the ones behind the counter in the station really need an attitude adjustment, if it was any retail outlet and they spoke to customers like that theyd be sacked

Einhard

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

As far as I can tell few other Police Forces in the world are subject are to the kind of abuse the Gardai are (though by all means correct me if wrong). Most societies in fact would consider them the finest and the pinnacles of society particularly in the US.

What are you basing this on exactly?

I think Irish people generally have an ambivalance towards authority figures, at least behind their backs. Maybe that has something to do with it.

My name is URL

I don't really think that there's a negative attitude towards Gardai.. no more so than any other police force around the world. In fact I'd say that they are held to a higher regard than those in the US.

I do however think that some people place them and their interests on a pedestal and are too quick to dismiss any view which doesn't wholeheartedly agree with their own, and accuse those differing opinions of being 'anti-Gardai'.

Cheap Thrills!

My personal opinion?

I think quite a lot of the time they are people who can't really 'make it' or stand out in any other field, business, academia, sport, industry, etc

To me the profile of a Guard often seems to be someone with an ego and ambition bigger than their average talents/abilities. They see becoming a Guard as a way to get respect and more.

There are definitely plenty of them who want badly to 'be somebody' and want to be above other mere mortals. Power tripping if you like.

Who would want the job? Dealing with scumbags, sh!t hours. Abuse?

Someone with an inferiority complex, that's who.

AudreyHepburn

Einhard wrote: »

What are you basing this on exactly?

I think Irish people generally have an ambivalance towards authority figures, at least behind their backs. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Mainly my own experiences traveling and seeing how the police in whatever place I am are treated.

I do know personal experience is not conclusive but I read a lot of crime books and watch of a lot documenteries too, it's a big interest of mine.

celticbhoy1888

They deserve it.I absolutely hate them.They treat you like filth and i love giving them cheek.Always makes my day:D

Einhard

Eric Cartman wrote: »

we all pay our taxes to fund these lads going around doing their jobs , unfortunatly like myself alot of people in this country only see the gards in a negative way (e.g. being delayed coming home from work for a garda checkpoint, gards giving you a hard time for the tax being out in your car for only a month , spending too much time taking small amounts of cannabis off young lads or getting people for doing 10km over the speed limit on a motorway.

Imagine the cheek of them, enforcing the law! Combatting drink driving! Shocking altogether!!

the problem is how they deploy people , im sure if they removed most of the lads off traffic core and stopped hastling people for personal use drug posession, pub closing times or other minor things etc..

So, people would like the guards more if they stopped hassling them for, er, breaking the law!!

AudreyHepburn

Cheap Thrills! wrote: »

My personal opinion?

I think quite a lot of the time they are people who can't really 'make it' or stand out in any other field, business, academia, sport, industry, etc

To me the profile of a Guard often seems to be someone with an ego and ambition bigger than their average talents/abilities. They see becoming a Guard as a way to get respect and more.

There are definitely plenty of them who want badly to 'be somebody' and want to be above other mere mortals. Power tripping if you like.

Who would want the job? Dealing with scumbags, sh!t hours. Abuse?

Someone with an inferiority complex, that's who.

In some case yes this is probably true. I don't think you could say that works across the board.

hondasam

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Again can you only support them if you are one?

of course not we should support them just not hero worship like you do.

AudreyHepburn

hondasam wrote: »

of course not we should support them just not hero worship like you do.

It's not hero worship at all. I just think we are too quick to forget the tough job they do and see them as useless idiots.

But that's just my opinion.

number10a

Just noticed, why is this tread in the Giving Up Smoking forum??

mikemac

Giving up smoking forum?

biko

Opps, my bad. Please return to AH.

AudreyHepburn

number10a wrote: »

Just noticed, why is this tread in the Giving Up Smoking forum??

No idea, I thought I put it in After Hours!

Mods can you move it please, thanks!

HellFireClub

I've two very good mates who are Gardai, young bucks in their mid 20's... They are decent lads, and good Gardai... But both have told me in separate discussions, (they are both attached to inner city stations but work out of separate stations), that the majority of their time is spent dealing with inner city junkies, moving people on, bringing people before court who end up in front of a judge who takes pity on them. They get free legal aid and the solicitor gets up in the District Court and speaks for them, they have a hundred previous offences... They get the Probation Act or bail, either way, after being caught for the hundreth time, and prosecuted, they are back out committing offences within minutes of a trial...

I asked both lads how they deal with this set up and both have said, "when we were in Templemore, we were told it is only our job to take these things to court, after that, it is no longer a Garda matter"....

The point I'm trying to make is that the Garda probably gets bad press for this whereas it is the judicary that is ultimately at fault...

hondasam

biko wrote: »

Opps, my bad. Please return to AH.

you did that on purpose

I need a cig

My name is URL

Slip of the the finger there Biko?

It's a good thing you're not a Garda =p

hondasam

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

It's not hero worship at all. I just think we are too quick to forget the tough job they do and see them as useless idiots.

But that's just my opinion.

your opinion that you want everyone to agree with.

AudreyHepburn

hondasam wrote: »

your opinion that you want everyone to agree with.

Where did I say that?

You do seem to have a chip on your shoulder about my supporting the Gardai. Why is that?

the groutch

this Simpson's quote pretty much sums them up:

Marge: I thought you said the law was powerless.
Chief Wiggum: Powerless to help you, not punish you.

Biggins

Why was this thread moved to the give up smoking section?

A bit bizarre! :pac:

AudreyHepburn

Biggins wrote: »

Why was this thread moved to the give up smoking section?

A bit bizarre! :pac:

I think Biko was moving a thread above it and moved this one as well by mistake:p

hondasam

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Where did I say that?

You do seem to have a chip on your shoulder about my supporting the Gardai. Why is that?

I support them as well.

flutered

Bosco boy wrote: »

I wouldn't judge it by a few pricks on boards.ie

please do not judge others by your own standards.

racso1975

My 2 cents. Only dealing's with AGS has been mostly in relation to traffic. I treat them with respect and have always been met with it. Once caught for speeding no point taking it out on him was my own stupidity. I'd imagine they do meet a lot of sap's with the i pay your wage's crap!
I'd also imagine like and sector that has 10000 plus people working in it there will be ones that are corrupt and assholes. Unfortunatly we hear bout them more cause irish people love a moan and a thread started by somebody praising a guard wont get as much attention a one slating a guard.

AudreyHepburn

hondasam wrote: »

I support them as well.

Then why does my supporting them bother you so much?

Biggins

My name is URL wrote: »

...some people place them and their interests on a pedestal and are too quick to dismiss any view which doesn't wholeheartedly agree with their own, and accuse those differing opinions of being 'anti-Gardai'.

hondasam wrote: »

of course not we should support them just not hero worship like you do.

I have no problem (honestly) with anyone having a falling out with Gardi, they might have genuine reasons to and who am I to say some cases are not justified.
...but hang on a minute Hondasam- and I say this with great respect, just because others also supports the Gardi and their establishment on the whole, does not entitle you or anyone to come out and just blatantly call someone "hero worshipping" either just because they might think different from others too!
Thats uncalled for - and certainly unproven!

Fair is fair, I too respect the work that they do the vast majority of the time. I, myself am under no illusions as the the rotten apples that exists in every barrel, no matter what role, department or job is under scrutiny. By similar thoughts which AudreyHepburn seems to have as me, I seriously don't think AudreyHepburn is "hero worshipping" by simply advocating that she has respect for the vast majority of those doing what is, lets me honest, a hard task. So please take a step back and lay off the ill-directed, unfounded tarnishing.

I KNOW your better than that!

hondasam

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Then why does my supporting them bother you so much?

I'm not bothered at all.