In my opinion it’s time to arm all Gardai.
Ireland has changed and become lawless in many areas just like the UK.
The Gardai are clearly not getting involved we only a stick and pepper spray on there hip.
I hate this argument. What, because you're bored you have to resort to antisocial behaviour or worse? I grew up in rural Ireland and all we had was our bikes, a Hurley and a football. None of us ended up in any bother with the cops. Because of good parenting mainly, and a healthy respect for authority which our young people don't seem to have these days.
What has the EU got to do with it?
We have the same level of armed police as our nearest neighbours, the UK.
The US also has some of the harshest sentencing in the world for violent crimes, and yet still doesn't impact on committal of violent crimes - it seems to be the most common suggestion on boards to have stonger/harsher sentencing, yet this is a perfect thread to highlight the flawed logic that harsher sentencing has any impact other that appeasing some sections of society who understand that arming the police force doesn't work in the US, yet are oblivious to the lack of impact harsher sentencing has in the same country.
Heavy handed you say?
We have one of the most tolerant police forces in the world, if the scobes in this country were mouthing off and shoving phones in the faces of cops in a lot of other countries like they do to the Gardai here they would get the **** kicked out of them.
I've been to a few EE countries and the cops are not to be messed with.
We have armed Gardai....we just don't give every Garda a gun
Which I don't remember see police all over Europe walking around with guns!!
We would be better off investing the money into a new jail so we stop letting criminals out early.
Also drug criminals should get twice the jail time they are currently getting. Make it a deterrent
no , no thanks
The ones who have them now are enough
A proper communication system?
What's wrong with the Tetra system in use?
Haven't Gardai been complaining about their communication system for years even saying that they have to use their own mobile phones for communication.
Police in all EU states are armed with handguns
We don’t have armed Gardai.
We have a specialist unit that’s armed. But you knew that already.
Don't tase me bro!
We do have armed Gardai.
We’d need a huge overhaul of AGS. I wouldn’t trust the current crop with water pistols. So much corruption, thievery, collusion with drugs gangs within the force as it stands.
Sounds like a cool movie, what was it called??
It is called the “Garda armed support unit”
My Dad was in the job, retired now. He'd back this up all day long.
What is arming them going to achieve? More of them threatened with lawsuits and counter claims by the free legal aid criminal class that are hoovered up and out, and then in again by the law racket? Get rid of this ridiculous system and the ultra liberal agencies that mollycoddle it. Let the police do their job and allow them to properly deal with any article that thinks that they are a law unto themselves.
Yep we need an overhaul of the sentencing but as has been said we need a more visible Garda presence on the streets. Can't remember the last time I seen any on the beat, do they still go out on the beat? Was in town last week and walked from Connolly Station up Talbot Street to O'Connell St and back and didn't see one Garda either out walking the street or a Garda car and the Garda station only around the corner. We should be looking at doing what was done in New York in the 80's when they had a cop on every corner, just having a more visible presence would put an end to a lot of the scumbag crap that we see going on.
Totally agree with you F, but we seriously have to consider the fact that the ridiculous mode of sentencing concerning the law racket in this country could well be having the effect of dissuading the numbers of new police we need to join the force in order to have the numbers we need. I sure as Hell wouldn't work in an environment where a vital section of my job was basically p!ssing into the wind all day, everyday.
More guns is never a good idea. End of story.
More Gardai is what we need, more jail spaces as well.
more and better prisons first please.
and a quicker system more willing to put offenders away.
little in the way of prison deterrent as it is.
an actual prospect of thinking 'i could do time' would be a better weapon.
Threadbanned
I voted No.
We already have an armed response unit which could of course be expanded.
Firstly
We need to make sure kids grow up in better environments, parents are given support systems and authorities step in when there's an issue.
Keeping teenagers in suitable education/apprentices.
We need more Gardai.
Proper sentencing.
Limit to amount of times people can use free legal aid.
They're not unarmed.
We also have the ERU.
A lot of people are discounting the idea and using America as an example,but many of our Europen neighbors have armed their police departments ,and don't have a problem with gung-ho shoot first ask questions later cops ,or thousands of accident discharge of firearm's,
I'd have no issues with the Gardai having side arms ,but there needs to be big changes in how they are trained and better oversight, every serving guard should be required to be drug tested regularly, among other things.
We need better cars /vehicles for them we should definitely look at America and how they get purpose built vehicles geared specifically for their needs ,we buy and lease bog standard fleet saloons and suvs,
Drones is another area that should be heavily invested in and not just off the shelf DJIs either
About 2,500 gardai are authorised to carry firearms, so not exactly an unarmed service.
Posters talking as if the gardai are going around shooting people at random on a daily basis.
Personally I don't feel gardai "on the beat" should be armed, but every Garda should be firearms qualified.
Perhaps in the UK it is a manner of properly utilising manpower. When the police decide to persue someone for a social media post under the doctrine of it is an offence to be offensive, mayhap resources are not being used in the most productive manner.
So your solution is to mark the Gardai a law unto themselves instead?
No one is getting legal aid for "lawsuits and counter claims" against the Gardai.
If that poor man wasn't brandishing a machete and swinging it wildly in a residential area and swinging it at Gardai, then he would still be alive. Irrespective of his skin colour.
Fixed it for you.
This will decimate Helen’s likes on Twitter.
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