seargent

nick1234

just a random question,what makes the seargents role differnt from a normal garda,i know it is a rank above,does he have more power or what?

a friend of mine got summons recently and felt he was been wronged,so he spoke to the local seargent,will/could the seargent have a higher say in this over the garda,or say should he have went to inspector or super intendant with his query etc??

he really felt like he has to do something he is that confident he is been wronged.

Recessionbust

Simple terms is that the Sarg is the supervisor so he has some influence but the inspector has more and so on, depending on the seriousness of the matter speaking with the Sarg first can never hurt if he's no help then move up the ranks

nick1234

yeah my mate said he spoke to him but never heard back anything yet,he doesn't want to phone the seargent again,should he just wait for the court date and hope the seargent done something,or should he ring him back and ask straight out.... /?

Recessionbust

Hard to say without knowing the details but if it was me I would leave it a week and get in contact asking for a update but best thing to do is get a Solicitor onto it regardless if he thinks he's right or wrong

johnnyskeleton

Might get a more detailed answer in the emergency services forum, although they can be quite protective when it comes to operational matters.

As set out above sergeants are like supervisors who will direct other gardai at times and assist them at other times. I'm not sure if they can discipline gardai - that may be more for inspectors and supers.

As to the conduct of a prosecution, while sergeants will often tell gardai what to charge etc, I'm not sure that they can actually force a Garda to drop a prosecution. Only the dpp has that legal power (although senior gardai are nevertheless highly persuasive).

They have certain statutory functions as well - they can give a certificate of arrest charge and caution to the court, they can apply (or could apply, at least) for certain warrants that other gardai could not, things like that.

nick1234

ok thanks for the replies,basicly my friend is in a sticly situation where he may be facing a lengthly ban,it's ironic but i just got summons myself lately (see other thread) only differnce between me and him is i didn't contact a sargent like he did,his summons were traffic related,the sargent told him not to worry and he would look in to it,he took a summons from him and said no guarantees,he didn't hear anything back so should he contact him again?

or is it a good sign he didn't hear anything back,i told him i would enquire if i though of it,and hence this thread.

CharlieCroker

As stated already, a Sergeant is a guards immediate supervisor, onto an inspector, superintendent etc.

Regarding a summons, it's a court order. No member of AGS has the power to tell your friend not to go to court. Only a judge can strike out the matter before the court but a Gatda can apply to have a matter struck out if they believe that they don't have sufficient evidence.

What offences are the summonses for?
Drink driving/insurance/driving licences etc are difficult to strike out without good reason.