Mahon point shopping centre

mcko

Counted 5 or 6 different Gardai walking around the centre today, can anyone explain why we are paying for Gardai to patrol private shopping centers.

MugMugs

mcko wrote: »

Counted 5 or 6 different Gardai walking around the centre today, can anyone explain why we are paying for Gardai to patrol private shopping centers.

Because it's a PUBLIC area where large amounts of the PUBLIC go? But that's just a wild guess

mcko

MugMugs wrote: »

Because it's a PUBLIC area where large amounts of the PUBLIC go? But that's just a wild guess

It's a private shopping centre with it's own security, I am sick of listening that there are no Gardai due to cut backs. If the good people of Mahon or Blackrock need a guard they can always ring Magon Point.

MugMugs

mcko wrote: »

It's a private shopping centre with it's own security, I am sick of listening that there are no Gardai due to cut backs. If the good people of Mahon or Blackrock need a guard they can always ring Magon Point.

So what if it's a private SC. It's a large area where members of the public congregate.... It requires patrolling especially on big shopping days like today. Private security don't have anywhere near the same powers or level of deterrent as members of An Garda Siochana do.

mcko

MugMugs wrote: »

So what if it's a private SC. It's a large area where members of the public congregate.... It requires patrolling especially on big shopping days like today. Private security don't have anywhere near the same powers or level of deterrent as members of An Garda Siochana do.

People congregate where I live to yet I don't see a Garda car from one day to the next never mind 5 on the beat, incredible in this day and age, who is paying for them.

MugMugs

Hundreds and hundreds of people congregate outside your home?? :eek: That's interesting Here's the link for ranting and raving. You may need to request access. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1193

pa990

mcko wrote: »

Counted 5 or 6 different Gardai walking around the centre today, can anyone explain why we are paying for Gardai to patrol private shopping centers.

its shocking .. i saw a patrol car parked outside a private house, and two Gardai going inside this private house, dunno why, it could have been a burglary ! But OP you're dead right why should Gardai be going to private property


:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

on a serious note.. maybe
Shopping Center + Lots of People = Shop Lifters, Traffic problems etc etc

goldie fish

Given that the entire population of cork was there shopping, it was the best place for them to be. Well done to the Gardai of Mahonistan.

mcko

goldie fish wrote: »

Given that the entire population of cork was there shopping, it was the best place for them to be. Well done to the Gardai of Mahonistan.

Took me 45 mins to get jut b no Gardai directing traffic acting as security guards.

Sterling Archer

Amm It's it also know as high visibility policing. I get the feeling mcko, you'd give out if they weren't there too.

timmywex

Lets ban all Gardai from anywhere thats not public property, and where they can be easily seen!

mcko

You all seem to be missing my point, I am not giving out about the Gardai who,were on duty that's their job to go where they are told, rather why we police private shopping centres, I would have thought that private security were in place and if they need the Gardai to make an arrest ect then they call them in.

Why don't we have Gardai in pubs at the week ends or in A and E Depts, better use then looking after Mahon Point.

mcko

mcko wrote: »

You all seem to be missing my point, I am not giving out about the Gardai who,were on duty that's their job to go where they are told, rather why we police private shopping centres, I would have thought that private security were in place and if they need the Gardai to make an arrest ect then they call them in.

Why don't we have Gardai in pubs at the week ends or in A and E Depts, better use then looking after Mahon Point.

Gardaí prevent crime, have more powers than a security guard, who can only carry out a citizens arrest, gardaí can stop and search known criminals.

Crimes that take place in shopping areas, theft from shops, theft from persons, fraud, assaults, theft from MPV's. Do you know how much time is spent investigating these offences? Better that you prevent them in the first instance.

djor88

It's possible that a call came in for Gardai to respond to Mahon Point and you spotted them all as they were responding to this call! You don't know why they were there, there may have been suspects spotted there, a string of robberies etc. I wouldn't just go assuming we're paying for the Guards to walk around Mahon Point SC.

PS I've been to Mahon Point, to go again, especially around Xmas, I'd want to be getting paid too!

Mr Jinx

mcko wrote: »

You all seem to be missing my point, I am not giving out about the Gardai who,were on duty that's their job to go where they are told, rather why we police private shopping centres, I would have thought that private security were in place and if they need the Gardai to make an arrest ect then they call them in.

Why don't we have Gardai in pubs at the week ends or in A and E Depts, better use then looking after Mahon Point.

Gardai regularly are on duty in pubs, nightclubs etc, looking for drugs being sold or preventing bag snatches and as for A and E, gardai are in and out of them constantly dealing with public order incidents. The mind boggles sometimes when people are giving out, there could be a 100 different reasons why Guards are in a shopping centre, shoplifters, pick pockets, thefts, burglaries, public order.

starch4ser

If you were a Garda, where would you prefer to patrol?

Outside in the freezing cold and wind or in a nice warm shopping center with lovely music playing and a nice chrismassy atmosphere??

mcko

If you were a Garda, where would you prefer to patrol?

Outside in the freezing cold and wind or in a nice warm shopping center with lovely music playing and a nice chrismassy atmosphere??

That about sums it up really, like seeing them in their cars in the middle of winter in shirts. Going to hop out in a hurry.

mcko

mcko wrote: »

If you were a Garda, where would you prefer to patrol?

Outside in the freezing cold and wind or in a nice warm shopping center with lovely music playing and a nice chrismassy atmosphere??

That about sums it up really, like seeing them in their cars in the middle of winter in shirts. Going to hop out in a hurry.

Time to ask what your real problem is?

crackcrack30

This thread is a load of c**k, I see guards, I dont see guards, Guards like the sun guards dont like icecream, guards go here but they dont go there.................:rolleyes:

mcko

crackcrack30 wrote: »

This thread is a load of c**k, I see guards, I dont see guards, Guards like the sun guards dont like icecream, guards go here but they dont go there.................:rolleyes:

I like any member of the public is entitled to question how policing works, I am not anti Gardai in fact I work closely with them on occasion and a nicer bunch of
men and women you could not meet .
Why don't we police all shopping centres so, never saw a Garda in any other SC in Cork on patrol.
Again
Why should 5 or 6 Gardai patrol a private business when you have Gardai on here saying they are short staffed and can't respond to the public.
That is my question and my point.

goldie fish

mcko wrote: »

I like any member of the public is entitled to question how policing works, I am not anti Gardai in fact I work closely with them on occasion and a nicer bunch of
men and women you could not meet .
Why don't we police all shopping centres so, never saw a Garda in any other SC in Cork on patrol.
Again
Why should 5 or 6 Gardai patrol a private business when you have Gardai on here saying they are short staffed and can't respond to the public.
That is my question and my point.

How do you know they were "patrolling" and not responding to a call?

My information is that there was "an incident" that required, when greater detail was not known, a large garda response.

Zambia

mcko wrote: »

I like any member of the public is entitled to question how policing works, I am not anti Gardai in fact I work closely with them on occasion and a nicer bunch of
men and women you could not meet .
Why don't we police all shopping centres so, never saw a Garda in any other SC in Cork on patrol.
Again
Why should 5 or 6 Gardai patrol a private business when you have Gardai on here saying they are short staffed and can't respond to the public.
That is my question and my point.

The fact Garda are in short supply is well known. In one day you see 5-6 Garda in one place and decide your position.

I worked in security in shopping centres, at Xmas we got smashed with crime. Every Garda that walked through was a blessing.

AlekSmart

mcko wrote: »

I like any member of the public is entitled to question how policing works, I am not anti Gardai in fact I work closely with them on occasion and a nicer bunch of
men and women you could not meet .
Why don't we police all shopping centres so, never saw a Garda in any other SC in Cork on patrol.
Again
Why should 5 or 6 Gardai patrol a private business when you have Gardai on here saying they are short staffed and can't respond to the public.
That is my question and my point.

With all due respect mcko,you took a while to get to your point.

You appear to be under the impression that Mahon Point SC management have negotiated an agreement with Commissioner Cullinane for the exclusive use of members of his force,to the exclusion of other areas/citizens ....would that be accurate ?

I'm assuming that the centre has its own Security for the day to day business of keeping some form of order on the great-unwashed at play.

Maybe Cork is different,but in the Shopping Centre's local to myself (The Square Tallaght,Dundrum Town Centre and Liffey Valley) I would regularly come across Gardai (Uniformed) going about their business...when I do,I most certainly do not rush for the keyboard to make some form of vague assertion that Gardai are actively ignoring every other aspect of their duties.

The Garda force is creaking at the seams.

It's blatantly apparent to all and sundry (except perhaps Commissioner Cullinane and Minister Shatter).

However,if we have a specific location where large numbers of humanity congregate,then add in the various elements which attract criminals such as cars,high-value electrical gizmos,cash itself,then we have a significantly increased risk of criminal activity within that area.

I'm scratchin my head in admiration for the leap-of-faith required to turn a visible garda presence in a busy area into the end of civilization as we know it ?

unichall

mcko wrote: »

You all seem to be missing my point, I am not giving out about the Gardai who,were on duty that's their job to go where they are told, rather why we police private shopping centres, I would have thought that private security were in place and if they need the Gardai to make an arrest ect then THEY CALL THEM IN.

Why don't we have Gardai in pubs at the week ends or in A and E Depts, better use then looking after Mahon Point.

There you have it Mcko they were there because they were called, mystery over, case solved.

In all honesty though Mcko that is like asking why a garda is patrolling a busy high street at this time of year, because that is where the vast majority of people are gathered and therefore the higher propensity for crime to occur, afterall isn't that effectively what large shopping centres are, the high street under one roof. It seems a fairly benign question to me to be honest and like I pointed out above, as you yourself had stated before, maybe they were there because centre security called them. Either way even if they were on patrol there you seem to be suggesting that it is exclusivley to Mahon Point at the expense of other areas but it goes without saying if there were calls to be answered in other areas these guards would deal with them too. Finally who is to say they werent just coming in to get a coffee or some lunch. At the end of the day who knows but your viewpoint seems skewered by some other vendetta, maybe not but that is certainly how it comes across.

Junkyard Dog

Come on now mcko use your noodle. Look at the day you saw them. The day after the start of the sales. Think of the amount of money that must have been moving through the centre that day. Pretty attractive if your a criminal, and not to mention a pickpockets wet dream. But maybe not if there happens to be a few cops around! Sounds to me like intelligent policing.

amen

is like asking why a garda is patrolling a busy high street at this time of year, because that is where the vast majority of people are gathered and therefore the higher propensity for crime to occur

thats an interesting questions. Are there any stats available as to which streets/areas in the country are most crime prone, types of crime and the time at which they occur such as NYC crime stats?

unichall

amen wrote: »

thats an interesting questions. Are there any stats available as to which streets/areas in the country are most crime prone, types of crime and the time at which they occur such as NYC crime stats?

Simple answer is yes but im not sure if they are available to the public but most if not all superintendents would use them for local policing strategy

goldie fish

CSO have all crime stats that are available to the public.

Potential-Monke

Maybe they were there on non-public duty, ie: in on overtime paid for by the shopping centre...

Maybe. Happens a lot at matches.

amen

Simple answer is yes but im not sure if they are available to the public

anyone know why they are not available to the public? After all they are just a list of crimes reported by the public.

Potential-Monke

amen wrote: »

anyone know why they are not available to the public? After all they are just a list of crimes reported by the public.

Could be to do with keeping one ahead of the criminals. If they knew which areas have the lowest reported crime then they might target those areas knowing that there is less chance of those areas being patrolled as much as the others.

hoodwinked

mcko wrote: »

I like any member of the public is entitled to question how policing works, I am not anti Gardai in fact I work closely with them on occasion and a nicer bunch of
men and women you could not meet .
Why don't we police all shopping centres so, never saw a Garda in any other SC in Cork on patrol.
Again
Why should 5 or 6 Gardai patrol a private business when you have Gardai on here saying they are short staffed and can't respond to the public.
That is my question and my point.

i'd be more inclined to be giving out about the garda on duty directing traffic into merchants quay car park, than gardaí walking around a crowded shopping center,

now that is a waste of resources,

Tesco douglas hire security to direct traffic why can't merchants quay do the same rather than depending on the gardaí to do it for them?

hoodwinked

hoodwinked wrote: »

i'd be more inclined to be giving out about the garda on duty directing traffic into merchants quay car park, than gardaí walking around a crowded shopping center,

now that is a waste of resources,

Tesco douglas hire security to direct traffic why can't merchants quay do the same rather than depending on the gardaí to do it for them?

Because people would be giving out about the Gardaí not keeing the traffic in the city moving due to the queues into the car parks.

It's basically what used to happen during Operation Freeflow. Gardaí have the power to direct traffic, security don't. Security can't stop people queuing, we can legally direct them to do so.

goldie fish

amen wrote: »

anyone know why they are not available to the public? After all they are just a list of crimes reported by the public.

Would you live where you live if you knew it was a blackspot for sexual assaults?
If you decided to move, how much do you think the house would sell for, given that everyone could see just what it is known for?

amen

Would you live where you live if you knew it was a blackspot for sexual assaults?
If you decided to move, how much do you think the house would sell for, given that everyone could see just what it is known for?

your correct I wouldn't but if I was from the town/area I would most likely know anyway.

But If I moved to an area it would be nice to know the crime rate and the type of crimes.

Its available in several countries so why not here?