Zebra3 wrote: Why are they driving crooks like Charlie Haughey around the place? I don't see how this fits in with their role of guardians of the peace?
sillysausage wrote: I think its the same as any other profession or organisation in the country, a few bad eggs give the entire force a bad name. I know that some of the Gardai could quite reasonably be described as nothing but ****, I wont arugue with that, BUT, there are a lot of hardworking, good natured, law obeyding/inforcing men and women who serve valiantly, and as is the way, go unnoticed. It is fair to say that in general, bad behaviour receives more column inches then honourable behaviour.
cheeky_guy wrote: lol you all badmouth them, yet you would be the first to go running to them when something goes wrong. Thank god for the pigs!:D
cheeky_guy wrote: lol you all badmouth them, yet you would be the first to go running to them when something goes wrong.
ColHol wrote: The guards are like referees, they can never win. Just say theres two guards on the beat, and a fight breaks out, someone will say "Why werent the two guys locked up straight away". If the guards arrest them, that means bringing them to the station, doin paperwork etc and theres NO guards on the beat in all that time. So then there will be complaints that there arent any guards around. Also if some guy starts on you, and you're both locked up, then they're bastards again! How do ya please everyone?
Megatron wrote: ( a Pigglet )
Kaiser2000 wrote: Oh ok then... *WARNING: LONG RANT* As anyone who caught the PrimeTime special on anti-social behaviour a few months back will have seen, my mam lives in Coolock and has been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation by local scumbags for the past 18 years!! Not ONCE has ANYONE ever been charged or even questioned about it! The local cops are by and large WORSE than these scumbags.. why? EXAMPLE 1: Junkie scumbag next door kicks the front door in one morning. Cops are called. Yer one is screaming in her driveway at him: "yea I f*ckin did it!!". Garda response: "I don't want to go down the road of charging her!" - and he didn't. EXAMPLE 2: Another neighbour starts banging on the front door one night with just my mam in the house. Rings the local staton..no response. She rings me - I'm in Cavan at the time with no way home - and I ring them.. as usual there's no inspector availanle (despite a legal requirement that every station must have a inspector or higher at all times!). I then ring the district station. Get a guy whose initally very helpful and promises to see what's happening. He put the phone down (not on hold - his mistake!) and I can hear him LAUGHING about it on the phone with the lads in Coolock. Then he comes back to me with an attitude. After shouting at this P*ick I get his inspector on the phone who promises to send a car. 45 minutes later a van turns up and goes to said scumbag's house (as he's gone in at this stage thankfully). His girlfrien answers the door and says "yea he's sorry - he's in bed now" (admission of guilt btw!). Cops arrive at our door and refuse to even take him in for question saying "we don't want to get him out of his bed!" EXAMPLE 3: Having had the front of the house pelted with stones for about 20 mins, a garda sargeant tells me on the phone he's noone in the area. As he says this, 2 of his officers turn up - sent by the crowd we were ringing about in the first place. I ask them to wait while I talk to their sargeant. THey don't! I ask the sargeant what they wanted and he tells me he doesn't know. I offer to hold while he finds out... "I've no way of contacting them" he says. "Right then" I reply "so you've Guards driving around with no radio or mobile??" "Uh yea.." is his answer... not just lies but STUPID lies!! EXAMPLE 4: When scumbag in example #1's car is stolen, a Garda car shows up at the door within 5 minutes and her car is back in an hour!! THEN 2 cars AND a van show up to make sure she's happy (and one of the Guards is caught on our surveilence camera making the smart-assed remark "sure maybe Norma (my mam) got it on tape!"). When this same scumbag clipped my wing mirror 2 months ago after tearing up the road, leaning on the horn, and FAILING TO STOP (hit and run btw), the local cops refused to charge her despite the whole incident being captured on camera and a copy of the tape and statement being presented by me. Why? There's no evidence to show anything happened. A inspector down there remarked to my mam that I'd "wasted an hour of his time on a incident that didn't happen" - thus calling me a liar!! The Gardai in this backwater half-assed country (and I take no pleasure in saying that) are rotten to the core from top to bottom with no independent oversight or accountability. It's the EXCEPTION rather than the rule that you meet a decent one! Btw.. if any mods wish to verify any of this feel free to PM me.. To everyone else, sorry for the rant but thanks for reading this far!
Kernel wrote: They generally do a good job under difficult circumstances, and like any public service organisation there are good and bad employees. The organisation could be managed better IMO. Kinda like the health service. I've seen some great ones though, and when you see that, you realise how they help keep communities safe - which is a vitally important service in any society. Don't get me started on the Garda Reserve Farce though.
Kernel wrote: Why not? What are you going to do, a Chuck Norris? I've seen very timely interventions from the Gardai. Helps if you know your local station number though.
Brother To God wrote: Maybe it is my imagination (please tell me if it is!) That those people living in well off areas and quiet areas seem to always have a good impression of the guards compaired to those unfortunate enough to live in the poorer hotspots.I notice even in my city (yes I own it!) of Limerick certain areas are lawless and the guards refuse to even go to certain areas and arrest certain villains and then the guards give grief to those good honest people living there who make a "big fuse" or as a guard once said "people trying to pull innocent guards with familes into trouble the army should be dealing with". compaired to those in the quiet,better off areas where the guards deal with less hassel ,know everyone around and are quick to deal out the justice.I believe the guards change from area to area and I understand the fear for their lives but they should never have taken the job if they do not plan to do it to the full extent,while they are afraid to deal with certain people they are more than willing to dish out a beating to Joe Soap for being drunk on the streets!stange eh?
Savman wrote: That's not for us to decide, they have to please everyone. Its not like there's crime happening 24/7 so I'm sick of hearing the argument of "there's too much paperwork to arrest petty criminals" - bulls***. Speeding fines = paperwork yet they lash them out when they feel like it. They are understaffed for most situations but that's not our frickin problem, we can only cut them so much slack. I'm sure the decent Gardai get pished off having such inadequate facilities in which to work, but if they think that's bad let them try and live in a disadvantaged area where the Gardai won't patrol. That's a bigger nightmare so any sympathy people have for the "poor Gardai" sickens me - they get paid for a tough job but they can walk away at any point and at the end of the day they clock out and they're outta there. Spare a thought for the "poor people" who dont have the option to quit at the end of a long day and have to face bare faced thuggery on their doorstep week after week, regular car theft, open drug dealing, joyriding, muggings, stabbings, rioting, assaults, the list goes on. But hey, I'm sure there's too much paperwork involved to do anything about it :rolleyes:
Kaiser2000 wrote: Oh ok then... *WARNING: LONG RANT* As anyone who caught the PrimeTime special on anti-social behaviour a few months back will have seen, my mam lives in Coolock and has been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment and intimidation by local scumbags for the past 18 years!! Not ONCE has ANYONE ever been charged or even questioned about it! The local cops are by and large WORSE than these scumbags.. why?
Firespinner wrote: Maybe because he is an ex-taoiseach and they have to protect him?
