The uselessness of the gardai

bmaxi · 24-03-2007 08:12PM

Brian Capture wrote:

Reason - he's an easy target and won't fight back.

Unlike the drug dealers and pirate DVD sellers.

Gardai will always go for the easy target.

That's why they had no problem kicking the crap out of middle class protestors in May Day 2002 but when it comes to taking on working class /

I didn't know being working class was a criminal offence.

Brian Capture · 24-03-2007 08:17PM

bmaxi wrote:

I didn't know being working class was a criminal offence.

*yawn*

That's not what I meant.

My point is that the Gardai are far more likely to give so-called respectable middle class people a hard time than the bleedin' story bud working class.

Look at it this way.

A well dressed man in an expensive suit gets on the bus and lights a cigarette.
and
A Celtic-jersey wearing, moustached, tracksuited, sovereign ring on each finger youth with a strong Dublin accent and threatening manner gets on the bus and lights a cigarette.

Who is more likely to be asked to put out the cigarette by the other passengers?

bmaxi · 24-03-2007 08:29PM

Brian Capture wrote:

*yawn*

That's not what I meant.

My point is that the Gardai are far more likely to give so-called respectable middle class people a hard time than the bleedin' story bud working class.

Look at it this way.

A well dressed man in an expensive suit gets on the bus and lights a cigarette.
and
A Celtic-jersey wearing, moustached, tracksuited, sovereign ring on each finger youth with a strong Dublin accent and threatening manner gets on the bus and lights a cigarette.

Who is more likely to be asked to put out the cigarette by the other passengers?

Is this supposed to be descriptive of the working class?

Brian Capture · 24-03-2007 08:36PM

bmaxi wrote:

Is this supposed to be descriptive of the working class?

no.
it's a complete caricature - for the purpose of my example.
but people like this do exist.

The vast majority of the 'working class' / 'less privileged people' are sound.
A minority aren't. And to plead poverty as an excuse is an insult to all the others .

bmaxi · 24-03-2007 08:44PM

Brian Capture wrote:

no.
it's a complete caricature - for the purpose of my example.
but people like this do exist.

The vast majority of the 'working class' / 'less privileged people' are sound.
A minority aren't. And to plead poverty as an excuse is an insult to all the others .

Yes and wearing a Blackrock College scarf is no excuse for vomiting over people on the 46a last Saturday.

Kernel · 24-03-2007 09:29PM

Brian Capture wrote:

Reason - he's an easy target and won't fight back.

Unlike the drug dealers and pirate DVD sellers.

Gardai will always go for the easy target.

That's why they had no problem kicking the crap out of middle class protestors in May Day 2002 but when it comes to taking on working class / skangers dealing drugs / joyriding they are nowhere to be seen.

You're talking pure unsubstantiated nonsense there Brian. Your post should start with ****IN MY OPINION ****, and even then your opinion would be wrong.

For a start, a person playing a musical instrument on the street is a lot more conspicuous than a junkie/dealer passing a wrap of diamorphine (bearing in mind that the big blue uniform is something that such people are always watching for, sometimes using spotters a street away). A Garda will always want decent arrests, not petty stuff, as this pleases the bosses, looks good on file and helps with promotion.

The class argument you make completely falls on it's arse when you look at the number of convicted criminals from working class backgrounds. If your argument was correct, the prisons would be full of middle class people.

As for mayday, a group of anarchists who do not believe in a lawful and ordered society caused a breach of the peace and started smashing up a car. The Gardaí restored order, before a full blown riot erupted which could have caused massive amounts of criminal damage and injuries.

Little annoys me more than someone posting ill-founded conjecture as fact.

:rolleyes:

markk06 · 24-03-2007 09:51PM

Brian Capture wrote:

A well dressed man in an expensive suit gets on the bus and lights a cigarette.
and
A Celtic-jersey wearing, moustached, tracksuited, sovereign ring on each finger youth with a strong Dublin accent and threatening manner gets on the bus and lights a cigarette.

Who is more likely to be asked to put out the cigarette by the other passengers?

Well clearly someone will be more likely to ask the person in the suit. Mainly because as you pointed out, the other guy is threatening. Which brings me to your next excellent point which you dont even know you made. Most members of the public wont go up to these "threatening people" whereas the gardai face these people day in and day out in their jobs, risking their safety for the safety of you and I. SO fair play to them for doing a good job.

As for saying that they only hassle "middle class" is bollox. You break the law you deserve to be punished whether you are from D4, D24, Donegal or Dubai... it has nothing to do with class. If, as someone pointed out, your statement were true, mountjoy would have an excellent entertainment group, full of jugglers and musicians who are doing "hard time" for busking, as opposed to the hardened criminals, junkies and over all dangerous individuals who inhabit it. Get real

el diablo · 24-03-2007 10:15PM

well, I've absolutely no faith in our police force either. most of them are gibbering idiots. :mad:

bmaxi · 24-03-2007 10:50PM

The Gardai have a tough job to do but it would be made easier if they got back among the people. When I was growing up everybody knew the local Garda. They didn't always like him but they trusted and respected him. He knew his patch and who the local ne'erdowells were. Nowadays you rarely see Gardai on foot patrol they flash by in cars or on motorbikes and the only physical contact most people have is at a checkpoint. Contrary to popular belief, it is the duty of the Government to protect us, the Gardai are only an instrument of this. No doubt Adolf Mc Dowell will be promising 50,000 new Gardai by Easter and a prison on every offshore island. Give the Gardai the resources they need and stop pandering to the bleeding heart, politically correct, spineless liberals and we'll all be the better for it.

ethernet · 24-03-2007 10:51PM

Gardaí have such a bad image in this country -- middle-aged, tea-drinking, 40" slack-wearing chaps, all speaking in the same accent.

Well, I must say my viewpoint was changed early in the year. Had an incident one night near new year's eve and, fair play to them, the gardaí had the perpetrators caught in less than 24 hours. They were very efficient and friendly.

el diablo · 24-03-2007 11:01PM

ethernet wrote:

Gardaí have such a bad image in this country -- middle-aged, tea-drinking, 40" slack-wearing chaps, all speaking in the same accent.

Well, I must say my viewpoint was changed early in the year. Had an incident one night near new year's eve and, fair play to them, the gardaí had the perpetrators caught in less than 24 hours. They were very efficient and friendly.

that's good to hear but it's certainly not typical....

source · 25-03-2007 01:07AM

el diablo wrote:

that's good to hear but it's certainly not typical....

Actually el diablo it is quite typical, because most criminals are no brain scum who leave a trail of evidence in their wake, where the problems arise is when well organised criminal gangs start organsing crimes with military planning, but even then the gardaí will 8 times out of 10 catch their man, true it may be a few years down the line, but it does happen and its happening every day.

The force does have a very negative image among the general public of this country, they realise this and are working hard to change it, take the 2 detectives who had the argument about whose round it was while guarding the american embassy.......both thrown off the force and one was arrested for dui that very night.

Face it they're a good, modern and effective police force who have a bad rep, which could have been justified in the past but today has no founding.

jesus_thats_gre · 25-03-2007 01:17AM

Even with regard to drug dealers operating in plain view. Under cover Gardai could be buying of them in order to build evidence for a case. In fact, they could be building cases against half the dealers in the city and then eventually let the cat out of the bag by swooping on them all at the same time.. Lets face it, we don't have a clue what is really going on or what we are talking about.

el diablo · 25-03-2007 01:19AM

foinse wrote:

Face it they're a good, modern and effective police force who have a bad rep, which could have been justified in the past but today has no founding.

LMAOPIMPROFLMAOWTIME

source · 25-03-2007 02:21AM

el diablo wrote:

LMAOPIMPROFLMAOWTIME

You know what's great? when people actually say what they mean instead of using acronyms all the time!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

InFront · 25-03-2007 02:28AM

Has anybody else been seeing the police on the beat a lot more lately? Driving around, walking around etc. I never (well, rarely) used to see them, but they do seem to have become more visible in my area anyway, just wondering is this a new policy? It's great to see anyway, I know a lot of people who have remarked on it.

TheNog · 25-03-2007 02:57AM

OP I used to work in Drogheda till earlier this month and I can tell you it is a busy town. It was usually busy from about 7-8am till 4-5 the next morning. It is a big town with nearly 30,000 ppl living there and the guards don't just patrol the town,there is also the surrounding townlands too. Lastly on a normal day including weekends there are only 8 gardai per unit patrolling the district.I'm sure that there were more than 8 on st. patricks day.

rogue-entity · 25-03-2007 06:06AM

bmaxi wrote:

...bleeding heart, politically correct, spineless liberals and we'll all be the better for it.

Care to elaborate on who you calls as bleeding heart liberals (to be sucinct)?
I have great respect for the Guardai, even if one of them caught me for speeding, I wouldnt blame them for the penalty points. I would bet they are pretty demoralised, and I cant blame them. The sooner the government actually sorts out this mess and gives the guards the funding they need, the better.

But, I am strongly supportive of Civil Liberties, and very much opposed to the erosion of cival liberties and privacy protection in countries like the US and the UK.

Gaspode · 25-03-2007 09:53AM

Nuttzy wrote:

Anyone else starting to think the guards are completely useless regards dealing with crime. Anyone else of the opinion that they are just lazy and try to avoid having to deal with a lot of whats regarded as petty crime or minor crimes, as the guards and polititions like to call it.

No I dont.

I reckon the main problem here is the non existance of proper garda patrolling and acting as deterrants. Also, their complete lack of interest when they are called for these crimes doesnt exactly help.

Anyone got any views on this?

The main problem is not the gards - its the bloody skangers causing the petty crime. The gardai are not perfect but they certainly are not capable of being in every place at every time (they leave that to the gods) so there's only so much thay can do.

The Irish these days, are guilty of showing little respect or support for their Gardai, but expect so much of them. You want them to be on every street in pairs, you want them to be in the Garda station, you want them sorting out traffic problems that we as crap drivers have caused, and we want them catching 'real' criminals, not enforcing the rules of the road. Basically we want them to be everywhere except when we want to 'bend' the rules to suit ourselves (e.g. speeding).

give them a break

Cozmo · 25-03-2007 12:40PM

My freind (15) got punched in the face by a 35 year old man, called the garda and they showed up 3 MOTHS AFTER! The bloke had moved out by then.

And when my freind threw a rock at a car the garda show up 5 minute's later. They dont give a **** about anyone under 18, they think wre just prank calling or whatever.

el diablo · 25-03-2007 12:51PM

foinse wrote:

You know what's great? when people actually say what they mean instead of using acronyms all the time!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

well, I rarely use acronyms, but I thought it was appropriate on this occassion.

here's what it stands for anyway.

Laughing My Ass Off Peeing In My Pants Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off With Tears In My Eyes.

bmaxi · 25-03-2007 03:43PM

rogue-entity wrote:

Care to elaborate on who you calls as bleeding heart liberals (to be sucinct)?
I have great respect for the Guardai, even if one of them caught me for speeding, I wouldnt blame them for the penalty points. I would bet they are pretty demoralised, and I cant blame them. The sooner the government actually sorts out this mess and gives the guards the funding they need, the better.

But, I am strongly supportive of Civil Liberties, and very much opposed to the erosion of cival liberties and privacy protection in countries like the US and the UK.

I refer to those whose position within the community has not exposed them and will not expose them to the scum the rest of us have to put up with, who, secure in this position, will argue the case for every scumbag and low-life without regard for those who will suffer the consequences of their actions.

InFront · 25-03-2007 05:21PM

So middle class people don't have their houses burgled, cars stolen, get involved with drugs, don't drink drive, or cause trouble (or experience trouble) on the streets after 2am?

Everyone sees and experiences and is exposed to crime, nobody is living in a bubble. Criminals don't always target the unemployed.

kwalsh000 · 25-03-2007 06:00PM

''The Irish these days, are guilty of showing little respect or support for their Gardai, but expect so much of them. You want them to be on every street in pairs, you want them to be in the Garda station, you want them sorting out traffic problems that we as crap drivers have caused, and we want them catching 'real' criminals, not enforcing the rules of the road. Basically we want them to be everywhere except when we want to 'bend' the rules to suit ourselves (e.g. speeding).''

Spot on des..spot on. At this stage these Garda bashing threads are ike beating a dead horse

Sam Vimes · 25-03-2007 07:01PM

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Where are you going with this

my point is that the garda go for easy targets who are doing very little/nothing wrong instead of real criminals

ROCKMAN · 25-03-2007 09:55PM

Cozmo wrote:

My freind (15) got punched in the face by a 35 year old man, called the garda and they showed up 3 MOTHS AFTER! The bloke had moved out by then.

And when my freind threw a rock at a car the garda show up 5 minute's later. They dont give a **** about anyone under 18, they think wre just prank calling or whatever.

I have worked as a voluntary youth club worker for the last ten years and the gardai attitude to young people is very biased. Which is why a high % of teenagers have lost all respect for them as individuals and as a force.Yes their are teenage scumbags , the same as there is adult scumbags but you cannot paint everybody with the same brush. Over the years i have heard many stories from my members that no adult would except if it was happening to them .

PS the " friend throwing the rock" probably a bad example but i get your point

bmaxi · 25-03-2007 10:05PM

InFront wrote:

So middle class people don't have their houses burgled, cars stolen, get involved with drugs, don't drink drive, or cause trouble (or experience trouble) on the streets after 2am?

Everyone sees and experiences and is exposed to crime, nobody is living in a bubble. Criminals don't always target the unemployed.

Is this in response to the post above? If it is then I'm missing your point.

John Mason · 26-03-2007 01:32PM

i am so angry just reading this thread dont get me started on the total lack of respect shown to law bidding people .............blood pressure starting to rise must leave now before i explode, the fat lazy fuc.kwits bast.ards

Dyr · 26-03-2007 02:55PM

Also their uniforms/glorified tracksuits are awful these days and they're all short arsed and seem to spend their time slouching around on mobiles or with their hands shoved in their pockets. Maybe thats why they're useless these days. Clothes maketh the copper.

God be with the day of the six foot plus copper in a proper dark navy uniform. :mad:

limklad · 26-03-2007 02:55PM

ethernet wrote:

Gardaí have such a bad image in this country -- middle-aged, tea-drinking, 40" slack-wearing chaps, all speaking in the same accent.

A Dub garda and a kerry garda speaking in the same accent. What is the country coming to! brainwashing in templemore, all speaking Mc Dowell accent. :eek:

You have to give the common guards some respect. They have since the creation of the state carry no Heavy weapons (firearms) and have a batton to protect themselves with crimminals who have no scruplous with shooting them. There are risking their lives everyday.

They are the first police force in the history of world (that we know of) to come out of a civil war, to enfore peace without arms (weapons) and collect illegal weapons that was used in the civil war.
From That time up to the current day events (daily shooting) that is guts for you to do their job. Yes, for long periods they had it easy, but those days are well and truly gone.

would you be piss off if you got abuse and no support from the public when your job is to protect the public.

The uselessness of the gardai

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