Transport Police

Victor

There has been some discussion about having a dedicated Garda traffic division, but should it go further and have a dedicated Transport Police that would cover traffic and public transport and possibily include the existing port and airport police (not part of the Garda)?

I see obvious merits in this in that each service could then get on with it's speciality (and inform the other of things they should be aware of). It would also remove the Transport Police from the "ah sure it's all right" attitude of a lot of Gardaí.

And whats more should this service be privatised like parking enforcement has been in a large number of areas?

dmeehan

i am all for a transport police

they should cover things like parking (in places where there are no traffic wardens) and the obvious things like enforcing the road/traffic acts etc.

the gards at the moment just couldnt give a sh!t
I have noticed a remarkable decline in the number of speed checks in cork since the introduction of the penalty points system because the gards dont want to have to do the extra paper work involved

also in cork at rush hour in the mornings there are gards posted at a lot of the major junctions/yellow boxes in the city centre. they are obviously there to act as a deterent but i have never seen anyone pulled over for stopping on a yellow box; I have even seen a lorry block 3 of 4 lanes and the gard didnt even blink:mad:

maxheadroom

I might become important in Dublin with the advent of the LUAS - long trams, one driver in the cab, terminus in a not-so-great area (there have been incidents with buses not servicing parts of tallaght). Would these police look after violence and general criminality on transport?

dmeehan

what do "transport police" in other countries cover?

MDR

the gards at the moment just couldnt give a sh!t
I have noticed a remarkable decline in the number of speed checks in cork since the introduction of the penalty points system because the gards dont want to have to do the extra paper work involved

Not true, the maintence and capital purchase funds for the Garda have been slashed. Most of the Garda stations in North Dublin have only a fraction of the vechicles they are supposed to, for instance Finglas is supposed to have 2 modeo's (spelling), a bike and a Yaris. ATM they only have the Yaris (has been like this since a joyrider damaged one of Mondeo's over four weeks ago), how the hell are they supposed to cover an area the size of Finglas, not to mention the M50 and the Finglas bypass, with one shagging Yaris ? Your problem is with Mr.McCreevy not the Garda, tis all too easy to blame the Garda.

And whats more should this service be privatised like parking enforcement has been in a large number of areas?

Yes, 100% the privatised clamper in Dublin have been doing a great job, would love to see the service extended. They should be able to award penalty points and arrange court appearances, without needing to call a Garda.

FinoBlad

Transport Police are badly needed, wait till smoking is banned, there will be hassle policing this