Recent violent crimes

Contra Proferentem

Just putting it out there that there's talk of at least two violent crimes having taken place in the Portlaoise area in recent weeks.

In the first incident, a woman minding her own business was assaulted at the old graveyard on the Ridge Road behind Browne's shop.

A "home invasion" style burgalry occured at the house of a married couple who were confronted by a gang of three foreign nationals who were armed with at least one knife.

I'd encourage everyone to be cautious with their personal safety, and report any information or suspicious activity to the Guards. Especially in places with elderly neighbours.

Danno

Not long left now before people start taking the law into their own hands... shoot first ask questions later will be the new mantra. I know if I caught anyone on my premises that should not be there it would be my first reaction. Why wait 20 minutes for a Garda car to come out?

The sooner people rise up and meet these scumbags with hostility the better.

joe_dunne

The sooner people rise up and meet these scumbags with hostility the sooner someone ends up dead or in prison.

While I agree with the sentiment "Danno" I don't think its that simple.

Joe
Bujinkan Portlaoise

Contra Proferentem

Well it's clear with the cuts to the Garda manpower that there simply isn't going to be enough policing to cover the areas. I'm not suggesting people take the law into their own hands, but that people who care get pro-active in reporting it.

Look at the voluntary citizen patrol groups that organise in cities around Europe to act as eyes and ears on the ground. The Italians are huge into it despite having the highest number of police personnel per capita. People just need to observe and report, to actually not sit back on their arses when something is going on or when something suspicious.

Even in London they used to have the Guardian Angels chapter, which patrolled the London Underground to deter and report crime.

**Vai**

Contra Proferentem wrote: »

Just putting it out there that there's talk of at least two violent crimes having taken place in the Portlaoise area in recent weeks.

In the first incident, a woman minding her own business was assaulted at the old graveyard on the Ridge Road behind Browne's shop.

A "home invasion" style burgalry occured at the house of a married couple who were confronted by a gang of three foreign nationals who were armed with at least one knife.

Its not just in recent weeks, this has been going on since I can remember in Portlaoise. Women getting sexually or otherwise assaulted, lads gettin beaten up for no reason whatsoever, other than a severe lack of their attackers being able to hold their alcohol. A quick psychological exam at the age of 18 would determine who should be allowed to drink and who should most certainly not because lets be honest alcohol is the cause of an awful lot of these crimes. Also, I dont think it matters if these people are foreign nationals, seems like a superfluous fact, we have enough of our own Irish scumbags. A scum is a scum.

Danno wrote: »

Not long left now before people start taking the law into their own hands... shoot first ask questions later will be the new mantra. I know if I caught anyone on my premises that should not be there it would be my first reaction. Why wait 20 minutes for a Garda car to come out?

The sooner people rise up and meet these scumbags with hostility the better.

Fight fire with fire, dont see why not. Something along the lines of the US law where you are legally allowed protect your property would be very welcome. Someone illegally entering my house better be willing to take me on as well as my dog and a hammer.

Contra Proferentem wrote: »

Well it's clear with the cuts to the Garda manpower that there simply isn't going to be enough policing to cover the areas. I'm not suggesting people take the law into their own hands, but that people who care get pro-active in reporting it.

Look at the voluntary citizen patrol groups that organise in cities around Europe to act as eyes and ears on the ground. The Italians are huge into it despite having the highest number of police personnel per capita. People just need to observe and report, to actually not sit back on their arses when something is going on or when something suspicious.

Even in London they used to have the Guardian Angels chapter, which patrolled the London Underground to deter and report crime.

Again, this was happening before the cuts arose and reporting it then got the same result as now, sweet f all. That has certainly been my experience as well as the people I know. Something like the Guardian Angels would go a long way in this country these days. Having said that, the cops are terrified of certain groups so whats to say it wouldnt be the same with an Irish version of the Guardian Angels?

Contra Proferentem

**Vai** wrote: »

Again, this was happening before the cuts arose and reporting it then got the same result as now, sweet f all. That has certainly been my experience as well as the people I know. Something like the Guardian Angels would go a long way in this country these days. Having said that, the cops are terrified of certain groups so whats to say it wouldnt be the same with an Irish version of the Guardian Angels?

Re it being nothing new: That's also true, but I think sometimes it becomes so regular and so vicious that it sort of snaps you out of your dreary contentment when you realise it's that close and it's that violent.

There would be nothing to prevent that occuring, and there is a history in this country of fear by those in government and civil service about any seriously organised community effort to confront an issue as they seem to see it as a challenge to their authority and priveledge rather than what it is: a postive initiative by people to reclaim their areas which is actually beneficial to the State in the end.

Basically it would need a heavy PR blast if you ask me, but then again it would have to be careful not to become too closely associated with the authorities as it wouldn't be an independent, community based group then.

In Italy, the local councils actually funded a group modelled on the Guardian Angels until a law was passed which ruled that voluntary groups couldn't recieve financial benefit for their work a year or two ago.

At the moment, there's only Neighbourhood Watch and Community Alert schemes but they're not active enough to be a serious deterent and tend to lead to people just hiding in their homes and leaving the streets to the scumbags.

Something needs to be done in the absence of properly resourced policing and a system which tends to be skewed against the victims. Places like Portlaoise, Portarlington have been getting worse, but with the economic ****storm only beginning, it's something that's going to have to be looked at.