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Now Ye're Talking - to a member of An Garda Síochána

135

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,190 ✭✭✭Rory28


    Going back to the cannabis. Is there a consensus in the Gardaí for it to be legalised or at least decriminalised? And if it did become legal what would happen to someone with a possession charge from before it was made legal?

    Im not even sure if its called a possession charge over here. But it is on the TV and thats good enough for me.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,141 ✭✭✭Stealthfins


    If a person declined to give a bailiff a salmon fishing license,could you intervene ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,969 ✭✭✭✭alchemist33


    Are there many undercover Gardaí and if so, how deep undercover would they go i.e. fabricating new identities, being apart from real family for weeks?


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,183 ✭✭✭✭Nekarsulm


    What were your opinions on the Gardai Reserve?
    Valuable resource or cost saving bulking up of the Force by idealist busy-bodies?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,023 ✭✭✭Satriale


    No question, just a thanks for your service and wishing you success in your new career. Great AMA.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,325 ✭✭✭iLikeWaffles


    Thanks Guard!


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,881 ✭✭✭✭GBX


    Great idea and fair play for taking the time to answer questions. I've no doubt its a hard job to do(and getting harder) with the lack of resources available. Its obviously a job with many frustrations.

    Not sure if this has been asked already:

    There was a lot of public outcry to the use of Garda personnel when the water meters were being installed and the fact that this was protection for a private company on behalf of the state. Was this a role you had to do - and if not - what was the general consensus within the force that Gardaí were tasked with doing this when there is so much more these Gardaí could have been doing on the crime side of things?
    (I'm not trying to start a Garda bashing point - I'm just curious - I have an uncle who retired after near 30 years a Garda so I have the upmost respect for the job you have to do.)


  • Registered Users Posts: 315 ✭✭Whitewater-AGS


    The Garda has to have a legal reason to pull you in. Fortunately, traffic law
    is very robust in this aspect, as any breach of traffic law is legal reason to pull someone in. That is something as simple are barely going over a continous white line, not stopping before the white line at the lights, failure to indicate, etc. Once the legal power to pull over has been established, the Garda can pull you over. After that, there are different parts of legislation which dictate what a Garda can and can't demand. If you were pulled over for a traffic offence, the Garda has the right to demand licence, insurance, etc. Failure to comply is an arrestable offence. It's the same in the US, they have to have a legal reason to pull you over. They usually do, and the ones recording are probably cop haters or social justice warriors who think they know their rights. They're usually wrong. Law is very complicated and convoluted. A Garda with 30 years service still won't know everything. A Garda can ask you anything, but can only demand certain things. And, Ireland being Ireland, the Gardaí are less authorative than some of our counterparts, so it's not uncommon for a demand to be disguised as a question; "Can I see your licence and insurance please" instead of "I am now demanding to see your licence and insurance details". The first is friendlier, the second is more authorative. If you don't answer the friendly way, the authorative way then takes over.

    Pat Harty would beat you with a law lecture book. No motoring offence needs to have happened, S.109 RTA is the power to stop any vehicle. No reason needed.;) Its very different here to the states.


  • Hosted Moderators Posts: 23,031 ✭✭✭✭beertons


    Holy moley, that was the longest multiquote I ever read.

    Head to coppers much when up in the big schmoke?


  • Registered Users Posts: 36,161 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Thanks for answering my previous two questions. I'll be greedy and ask a third.

    What would your views be on having a civilian head of the force/police head but appointed from an external background?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,435 ✭✭✭Comic Book Guy


    When you were off duty and heading home in your private car, if someone over took you exceeding the speed limit could you have pulled them in?

    ever use the siren for non Garda stuff when in the squad car like beating the traffic to get to a shop before closing?

    I had dealings with someone I don't know via Donedeal that didn't work out on my side of the deal. After getting burnt I subsequently found out that said individual is "known to the Gardaí". The money involved is small enough but its the principal of it that annoys me. Should I just walk away and take it as a lesson learnt or what would you have recommended in your former role?


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,415 ✭✭✭.G.


    Why do Gardai feel they can park anywhere they like anytime they like? Why do Gardai feel they can flout the road traffic laws they expect the rest of us to observe? For example mobile phone use while driving, speeding, sticking the blue lights on to get through bad traffic then knocking them off again once through. How many take advantage of their status to get free stuff. I use a deli in Dublin and a few Gardai are regulars yet I've never seen them pay for anything.

    I see all this stuff on a regular basis and it gives the rest of you a bad name and like you spoke of earlier, damages any hope that people will respect Gardai.


  • Boards.ie Employee Posts: 12,597 ✭✭✭✭✭Boards.ie: Niamh
    Boards.ie Community Manager


    superg wrote: »
    Why do Gardai feel they can park anywhere they like anytime they like? Why do Gardai feel they can flout the road traffic laws they expect the rest of us to observe? For example mobile phone use while driving, speeding, sticking the blue lights on to get through bad traffic then knocking them off again once through. How many take advantage of their status to get free stuff. I use a deli in Dublin and a few Gardai are regulars yet I've never seen them pay for anything.

    I see all this stuff on a regular basis and it gives the rest of you a bad name and like you spoke of earlier, damages any hope that people will respect Gardai.

    Just a reminder that we cannot expect our guest to answer on behalf of every Garda, he can only speak from his own experience. Thanks :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 746 ✭✭✭Mightydrumming


    Hi there!

    In regards to medical emergencies, are all Gardai trained in basic first aid?


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,079 ✭✭✭✭JCX BXC


    Definitely the best AMA I've ever seen!

    Just one question, did you ever notice people in general getting nervous around you, purely because you were a guard?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,460 ✭✭✭Barry Badrinath


    Hows things.

    1. What are your experiences of fitness levels in the AGS and do you think an annual fitness test should be mandatory.

    2. Never having worn an AGS uniform, do you feel it should be upgraded to a more suitable and flexible design for regular Garda.

    3. I know a good few people who left the DF and joined the AGS. I almost did myself. Have you ever met any ex DF and how did they fair out? Was there any difference between ex Army AGS members and regular AGS members?

    4. Thanks for serving over the years, i'm sure you made a difference.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,415 ✭✭✭.G.


    Obviously but I'm sure he'll have come across this attitude among some colleagues. Or maybe he won't have since he wasn't based in Dublin, that's where I see it all the time.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 150 ✭✭Head Wreck


    What is your personal opinion on cannabis officer? Would you think it should be at least decriminalised. I think ye are fighting a losing battle. It's easier to get than milk. Also, stoners don't generally pose a threat to themselves or others. They won't be out fighting on the streets.

    Do you know any of your colleagues who smoke a bit?


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,325 ✭✭✭iLikeWaffles


    Head Wreck wrote: »
    What is your personal opinion on cannabis officer? Would you think it should be at least decriminalised. I think ye are fighting a losing battle. It's easier to get than milk. Also, stoners don't generally pose a threat to themselves or others. They won't be out fighting on the streets.

    Do you know any of your colleagues who smoke a bit?

    already answered was a good answer!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,457 ✭✭✭livedadream


    superg wrote: »
    Why do Gardai feel they can park anywhere they like anytime they like? Why do Gardai feel they can flout the road traffic laws they expect the rest of us to observe? For example mobile phone use while driving, speeding, sticking the blue lights on to get through bad traffic then knocking them off again once through. How many take advantage of their status to get free stuff. I use a deli in Dublin and a few Gardai are regulars yet I've never seen them pay for anything.

    I see all this stuff on a regular basis and it gives the rest of you a bad name and like you spoke of earlier, damages any hope that people will respect Gardai.


    to be fair if im walking down the street and attacked and call the gardai i dont give a crap where or how they park as long as they get to me... im sure most people would say the same.

    if a crime is being commited park where ever ye like lads.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 631 ✭✭✭return guide


    Did you put on the blue lights while bringing the chips back to the station for the tea ??


    Only messing, fair play to you for lasting 10 years in a job that I for one would not do, respect.


  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 2,588 Mod ✭✭✭✭KonFusion


    Ever stop a motorcycle for driving in the bus lane?

    Are you ever out with friends or family and witness them 'breaking the law' such as speeding, or something simple like that? Does it bother you or do you shrug it off when not on duty? Do they expect that you can provide them with favors if they get into trouble?

    Does being a member of AGS have an impact on your personal relationships friends or family for better or worse (or no impact at all)?


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,910 ✭✭✭0ph0rce0


    I'm a country boy, Dublin is too busy and too loud, not to mention the traffic. It's nothing against the people, just the logistics and general feel of the city. I like falling asleep to a quiet night time. Anytime I've stayed in Dublin (the city part anyway, not the suburbs), it's just constant traffic noises and revelers. Give me a country house (with decent internet) any day!



    The Garda has to have a legal reason to pull you in. Fortunately, traffic law
    is very robust in this aspect, as any breach of traffic law is legal reason to pull someone in. That is something as simple are barely going over a continous white line, not stopping before the white line at the lights, failure to indicate, etc. Once the legal power to pull over has been established, the Garda can pull you over. After that, there are different parts of legislation which dictate what a Garda can and can't demand. If you were pulled over for a traffic offence, the Garda has the right to demand licence, insurance, etc. Failure to comply is an arrestable offence. It's the same in the US, they have to have a legal reason to pull you over. They usually do, and the ones recording are probably cop haters or social justice warriors who think they know their rights. They're usually wrong. Law is very complicated and convoluted. A Garda with 30 years service still won't know everything. A Garda can ask you anything, but can only demand certain things. And, Ireland being Ireland, the Gardaí are less authorative than some of our counterparts, so it's not uncommon for a demand to be disguised as a question; "Can I see your licence and insurance please" instead of "I am now demanding to see your licence and insurance details". The first is friendlier, the second is more authorative. If you don't answer the friendly way, the authorative way then takes over.

    Similar to the above

    If I'm walking down the street as normal in the middle of the day and the guards stop me and start asking questions like name & address, Where I'm going / coming from.

    Do I have to answer them if they have no proof or suspicion of me causing an offence. Do I not have to be informed of an offence and under what act in which I'm being stopped for before they can ask me anything.

    Or will they just pull the Public Order Act ****e and make stuff up until you give your information?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 664 ✭✭✭9or10


    Hi Garda - just wanted to say thanks for doing this. I think its very useful.
    Definitely concerned. No one ever expected something like what happened to D/Gda Donohue. I didn't know him personally, or even have heard of him prior to that incident. But it genuinely hit me hard. It's a strange feeling, one you only get in jobs like these where someone who does the same job as you, but whom you don't know, gets brutally murdered in the line of duty. You feel for him, his family, friends and colleagues like you don't for others. It sent the reality of the job to the forefront of my mind, and I shed some tears. The reality that it could have been me, as it was just so random and unexpected, it left a scar. It made me way more cautious, and I can understand why the American police are so trigger happy. If gun crime was a rife here, i'd definitely be cautious the whole time, knowing that this simple traffic stop could be the end.

    A colleague of mine was fatally shot on duty in the late 90s - not police and not this country. When his kid stood up and said "All me Dah wanted to do was play for Everton" - there wasn't a dry eye :o

    Huge supporter of the Gards - any I've come across have been really sound - but then I'm an auld fecker I don't get up to much.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,415 ✭✭✭.G.


    if a crime is being commited park where ever ye like lads.


    Am talking about in general. Have a look outside Pearse St garda station any day of the week, or in the streets surrounding any courthouse around Dublin. Some old fart driving a garda van parked on the path and a double yellow line beside the site I'm working on today while he visited some one, was there for 2 hours. The laws apply to all of us but you wouldn't think it looking at some of these lads.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,261 ✭✭✭source


    superg wrote: »
    Am talking about in general. Have a look outside Pearse St garda station any day of the week, or in the streets surrounding any courthouse around Dublin. Some old fart driving a garda van parked on the path and a double yellow line beside the site I'm working on today while he visited some one, was there for 2 hours. The laws apply to all of us but you wouldn't think it looking at some of these lads.

    Also former Garda here.

    There is an exemption for Gardai:

    Section 23 Road Traffic Act 2014
    23. Section 87 of the Act of 2010 is amended by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

    “(1) Requirements under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2010 relating to vehicles and requirements, restrictions and prohibitions relating to the driving and use of vehicles, other than those provided under sections 49, 50, 51A, 52 and 53 of the Principal Act, sections 12, 13 and 15 of the Act of 1994 and sections 4, 5, 11, 12 and 14 of this Act, do not apply to—

    (a) the driving or use by a member of the Garda Síochána, an ambulance service (provided by a pre-hospital emergency care service provider recognised by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council established by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 109 of 2000 )) or a fire brigade of a fire authority (within the meaning of the Fire Services Act 1981 ) of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, or

    (b) a person driving or using a vehicle under the direction of a member of the Garda Síochána,

    where such use does not endanger the safety of road users.”.

    [\Quote]


  • Posts: 18,749 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    superg wrote: »
    Am talking about in general. Have a look outside Pearse St garda station any day of the week, or in the streets surrounding any courthouse around Dublin. Some old fart driving a garda van parked on the path and a double yellow line beside the site I'm working on today while he visited some one, was there for 2 hours. The laws apply to all of us but you wouldn't think it looking at some of these lads.

    You have a problem with the guards parking outside a Garda station??!
    If there's anywhere that should actually provide parking for state vehicles, it's a courthouse wouldn't you think?


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,415 ✭✭✭.G.


    I have a problem with inconsiderate parking anywhere but they seem to be exempt so I'll just have to get on with it.

    For your second point, Yes you would think they would provide parking for them but seemingly they dont seem to provide enough since their cars can be found parked on double yellows and footpaths all over the shop.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,415 ✭✭✭.G.


    source wrote: »
    Also former Garda here.

    There is an exemption for Gardai:

    Section 23 Road Traffic Act 2014
    23. Section 87 of the Act of 2010 is amended by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

    “(1) Requirements under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2010 relating to vehicles and requirements, restrictions and prohibitions relating to the driving and use of vehicles, other than those provided under sections 49, 50, 51A, 52 and 53 of the Principal Act, sections 12, 13 and 15 of the Act of 1994 and sections 4, 5, 11, 12 and 14 of this Act, do not apply to—

    (a) the driving or use by a member of the Garda Síochána, an ambulance service (provided by a pre-hospital emergency care service provider recognised by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council established by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 109 of 2000 )) or a fire brigade of a fire authority (within the meaning of the Fire Services Act 1981 ) of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, or

    (b) a person driving or using a vehicle under the direction of a member of the Garda Síochána,

    where such use does not endanger the safety of road users.”.

    [\Quote]

    Fair enough. What about the other things I mentioned. Not so much the shop stuff but the other things, exempt from that too? Genuinely interested so I know whether to bother taking a reg and making a phone call. I asked the Garda twitter but they didn't answer me.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,012 ✭✭✭stop animal cruelty


    I would imagine being a Garda you would need a hell of alot of patience, esp dealing with time wasters, people who love a bit of drama etc, did you find the job testing your patience alot of the time? And how did you manage it?

    Roughly, how many people have become/are a guard that are not suitable for the job? eg lazy, doing it for status, poor communication skills, too much of a push over etc


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