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How do you perceive the overall work of the Gardai
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Yes I trust the Gardai. They do a wonderful job with what they have. Most of them(I mean the vast majority) work hard, deal with situations that will never be experienced by most of the populus, and are nearly always left unthanked for their duties. They also get stereotyped by public too often, and most people form their opinions of AGS on chinese whispers, rumours and lies.
However, it is my opinion that something needs to be done to stamp out 'the bad apples'. Something more effective. I knew of a Garda(whom I met through a friend once) who I would class simply as scum. He was a nice, likeable guy in social circumstances. But I have heard him talking about doing things on and off duty that would be more suited to some gouger. Smoking weed, keeping confiscated materials etc. But he is not unique. There are more than a few bad apples imo, and this needs to be addressed. However, unlike most people, I judge AGS by the actions of the good rather than the bad.0 -
I read the forum everyday but I don't post there as I don't like the clannishness of the serving Gardaí. When I did voice my views I got accused of flaming just because my opinion is out of step with the serving members. One poster even said "I'll talk to ES personal about ES situations". That sort of dismissiveness is what colours people's opinion of the Gardaí. A little public civility would be nice.
The civility you want Hagar is also missing from your posts too. It would be a fair assessment that if you come on here and post in a some what aggressive tone then you will get some aggression back.
By the way djtechnics response "I'll talk to ES personal about ES situations" was from your previous post below about our health and safety. We have families to go to home to as well.Do the job or quit. Same as everyone else.
I will agree with you that a certain amount of clannishly behaviour has crept into the forum but it is not bad and certainly not fixable. That is one reason why I created this thread.
Again we have no problem with genuine posters who share or don't share our views.0 -
In fairness, the question isn't "how many knobs" are in the gardai, or the type of job they do, it's "do you trust them". I'm well aware of the job they do, and the people they deal.
I was on me mobile last night when I posted and the screen doesnt scroll down so I was typing blind, thats why I gave a small reply.
I meant that "knob head" as in some of the I dont trust , hence knob heads lol. The majority of them I do trust.
Some of the biker cops are really sound aswell, they give the biker nod and all.
Its the same with every job. Some people ya trust some people ya dont. Guards get a raw deal in my opinion. They are only doing their job and then get ridiculed for sticking to the laws that they are supposed to uphold.
Obviously another load of them around the streets would be great but its not the guards fault there isnt more of them. Even if there was more of them, people would find another reason not to like em.0 -
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That's different to what you said above which was that you would only give credence to their opinion if they were regular posters.
" if said posters were regular contributors perhaps their negative comments would appear less like flaming and be afforded more weight".
Let me simplify it for you seeing as how you're not only putting words in my mouth, but also misrepresenting my posts.
Posters (from any background) coming onto this forum (not solely to flame) and contributing to the debate (as in contributing, not flaming; that's the important bit) do get a better reception and facilitate better discussion than those who we've never seen hide nor hair of, except when there's an easy opportunity to garda-bash/flame etc.
In that, there is no inconsistency.0 -
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If you are going to be consistant then you will have to recgonise that dismissive and condescending attitudes like the ones you have put up here result in ordinary members of the pubic having "little time for entertaining" you.
Profiler,
Metman has not been dismissive or condescending that I can see in any of his posts.0 -
metman, you've yet to make an on topic post in the thread. You seem more concerned with dictating who should and shouldn't be allowed express an opinion.0
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I remember reading before that a poll showed the public's main problem with the gardai to be their rudeness.
In my limited experience with the gardai, that holds true for me. I've lived in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. I've had experience of the cops in the UK and NZ, and found them to be very friendly, and I would go out of my way to help them.
I also worked in Johannesburg for a little while, and i think the gardai probably do a better job than those guys, although they were friendlier.
I don't really know how good the gardai are at getting stolen good back. I grew up in a bogey area, and they certainnly never seem to catch any of the very dodgy people who were running riot in our estate. They never seemed to get back stolen good. Vigilantes became the norm, as the gardai failed to keep control.
They were also very very rude to us when I was a youngster. Hassling us all the time for just hanging around with your mates. Stoping us and searching us when they felt like it. That's cool, but they were also rude about it. Always saying things like "where's your drugs?" etc during the search. Then acting like they were letting us away with something when they found nothing on us.
This kind of thing has repercussions. We all hated the gardai because they were rude to us. So, one day they were chasing some crims. These guys ran round the corner, being chased by 2 gardai. The guys hopped over a wall, and the cops legged it round the corner and asked us where they went. We pointed them in the wrong direction.
They would have honestly had such an easier life if they were nicer to people.
I was talking to a group of Irish people here in Oz the other day. One of them was trying to describe a dismissive middle aged guy. He said "he was like a garda back home would be to you". The sad thing was that everyone nodded their understanding as soon as he said that.
I work in a hospital, and a cop once asked me what was wrong with a prisoner he was there with. I wouldn't tell, as it's confidential. So, he comes back 5 minutes later saying he's rang his boss, who says I have to tell him or he'll arrest me!!! I told him to go ahead.
One of my oldest mates is a copper in Ireland. His one MAJOR flaw is that he's incredibly racist. But he's a garda! I have no idea how he functions. I'm afraid to ask.
I do want to finish on a positive note, though. Years ago I was trying to get into a nightclub with a mate of mine, who looks very dodgy. The bouncer just said we couldn't come in. No reason, nothing. This was at the time when that new equality law came in, meaning that you couldn't refuse people without reasons. So, I just happened to see a copper passing by and asked him was that allowed. He said "I don't know, but you seem like decent guys to me. let's have a word with him". And he did!! Couldn't believe it. Told him we wouldn't go in anyway. But he told the doorman to be careful, as he was sailing close to the wind with the law. That garda was a legend. I was basically wasting his time on a saturday night. But he just spent 5 mins on a bit of PR. I wouldn't point him in the wrong direction if he was chasing crims :P0 -
That comment and the attitude which goes with it, is exactly why I don't trust Gardai.
djtechnics1210: Karl there says he wouldn't report her. I'm sure others felt the same. How someone like that could last in a job without every person they worked with knowing exactly the type of loon they where is beyond me.
Like, fair play to the gardai, they dismiss or charge their own when the corruptions of incompetence becomes too blatant to hide.
Completely incorrect and putting words in my mouth Boston, lame tactics of the defeated.
First off, yes your name is withheld if you make a complaint to Gardai. We are, at no stage, told who has made the complaint against us nor are we permitted to ask or be told so please, know your facts before commenting as clearly you dont.
Secondly, when did I say I would not take action? If a colleague commits a crime I would prosecute them, my earlier post clearly demonstrated thats how Gardai operate. As I said, we dont make complaints we investigate them.
Now for a little fact you probable dont know either, Gardai cannot make complaints against other Gardai to the Ombudsman. Doesnt matter if your complaint is as a result of action taken while on or off duty. We simple cant go to the Ombudsman so again, I have less rights than you.
Tallaght,
I take on board what your saying and I agree, manners cost nothing and in certain areas the Gardai do become hardened and see everyone from an estate as criminals or as bad as each other. I too have been on the recieving end of this mentality so Im always mindful that no matter how bad an area is the majority of people living there are decent people.
My disagreement is with your belief about how friendly we are. I have approached foreign police and know people from across the globe. They have all said were far more approachable than the police in their home nations. An example being Spain and France where my friends said you simple cant approach them. I too spoke with the police in Oz, yes they are very friendly. Its also true that sometime my badge gets my better service, I found the Spanish friendly to me but only when I showed I too was a police officer whereas the French were truly ignorant from start to finish. In the US and SA you dont approach a cop looking for directions or a good place to eat whereas here people freely do so. Of course again, once I produced ID they were more relaxed towards me but until then I got a cold hard stare.
Another thought is concerning foreign nationals in Ireland. A lot of asylum seekers have a bad view of police from their home nations and a lot of time, who can blame them? But here they appear to have no problem approaching and talking to us after a while. This isnt helped by the fact that Gardai are in charge of immigration compared to say the US, where its a seperate agency.
Were probable not the best in this area but I would not have thought were anywhere near the worst when you consider some places.0 -
Yes i trust them to a degree......But as a force they are useless, wouldn't even bother to ring them if i was a victim of crime.
No matter what people say about their dangerous driving, on mobile phones constantly, and not dealing with scum who rule our streets i.e( the 50 or so members hiding behind their vehicles in dorset street the other night) they always have an excuse.
I know safety is a massive issue, but there is more people killed and injured on Building Sites than in the whole of the Gardai, fire service, ambulances, prison officers put together, just get on with the job lads stop making Excuses because us the public are sick of them.0 -
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pokerface_me wrote: »
I know safety is a massive issue, but there is more people killed and injured on Building Sites than in the whole of the Gardai, fire service, ambulances, prison officers put together, just get on with the job lads stop making Excuses because us the public are sick of them.
I'm sorry there's not more of us dying on duty to justify you paying our wages. Yep, thats just what the country needs - more widows0 -
tallaght01 wrote: »I remember reading before that a poll showed the public's main problem with the gardai to be their rudeness.
In my limited experience with the gardai, that holds true for me. I've lived in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. I've had experience of the cops in the UK and NZ, and found them to be very friendly, and I would go out of my way to help them.
I also worked in Johannesburg for a little while, and i think the gardai probably do a better job than those guys, although they were friendlier.
I don't really know how good the gardai are at getting stolen good back. I grew up in a bogey area, and they certainnly never seem to catch any of the very dodgy people who were running riot in our estate. They never seemed to get back stolen good. Vigilantes became the norm, as the gardai failed to keep control.
They were also very very rude to us when I was a youngster. Hassling us all the time for just hanging around with your mates. Stoping us and searching us when they felt like it. That's cool, but they were also rude about it. Always saying things like "where's your drugs?" etc during the search. Then acting like they were letting us away with something when they found nothing on us.
This kind of thing has repercussions. We all hated the gardai because they were rude to us. So, one day they were chasing some crims. These guys ran round the corner, being chased by 2 gardai. The guys hopped over a wall, and the cops legged it round the corner and asked us where they went. We pointed them in the wrong direction.
They would have honestly had such an easier life if they were nicer to people.
I was talking to a group of Irish people here in Oz the other day. One of them was trying to describe a dismissive middle aged guy. He said "he was like a garda back home would be to you". The sad thing was that everyone nodded their understanding as soon as he said that.
I work in a hospital, and a cop once asked me what was wrong with a prisoner he was there with. I wouldn't tell, as it's confidential. So, he comes back 5 minutes later saying he's rang his boss, who says I have to tell him or he'll arrest me!!! I told him to go ahead.
One of my oldest mates is a copper in Ireland. His one MAJOR flaw is that he's incredibly racist. But he's a garda! I have no idea how he functions. I'm afraid to ask.
I do want to finish on a positive note, though. Years ago I was trying to get into a nightclub with a mate of mine, who looks very dodgy. The bouncer just said we couldn't come in. No reason, nothing. This was at the time when that new equality law came in, meaning that you couldn't refuse people without reasons. So, I just happened to see a copper passing by and asked him was that allowed. He said "I don't know, but you seem like decent guys to me. let's have a word with him". And he did!! Couldn't believe it. Told him we wouldn't go in anyway. But he told the doorman to be careful, as he was sailing close to the wind with the law. That garda was a legend. I was basically wasting his time on a saturday night. But he just spent 5 mins on a bit of PR. I wouldn't point him in the wrong direction if he was chasing crims :P
+1
Truth be told there is nothing more demoralising within the force than to have a member abuse his/her position or bring disrepute to the AGS.0 -
pokerface_me wrote: »( the 50 or so members hiding behind their vehicles in dorset street the other night) they always have an excuse.
I know safety is a massive issue, but there is more people killed and injured on Building Sites than in the whole of the Gardai, fire service, ambulances, prison officers put together, just get on with the job lads stop making Excuses because us the public are sick of them.
This is the most idiotic post put on the ES forum ever. Congratulations Pokerface.
Last warning for you. Next time and you are out of here.0 -
Karlitosway1978 wrote: »
Tallaght,
I take on board what your saying and I agree, manners cost nothing and in certain areas the Gardai do become hardened and see everyone from an estate as criminals or as bad as each other. I too have been on the recieving end of this mentality so Im always mindful that no matter how bad an area is the majority of people living there are decent people.
My disagreement is with your belief about how friendly we are. I have approached foreign police and know people from across the globe. They have all said were far more approachable than the police in their home nations. An example being Spain and France where my friends said you simple cant approach them. I too spoke with the police in Oz, yes they are very friendly. Its also true that sometime my badge gets my better service, I found the Spanish friendly to me but only when I showed I too was a police officer whereas the French were truly ignorant from start to finish. In the US and SA you dont approach a cop looking for directions or a good place to eat whereas here people freely do so. Of course again, once I produced ID they were more relaxed towards me but until then I got a cold hard stare.
Another thought is concerning foreign nationals in Ireland. A lot of asylum seekers have a bad view of police from their home nations and a lot of time, who can blame them? But here they appear to have no problem approaching and talking to us after a while. This isnt helped by the fact that Gardai are in charge of immigration compared to say the US, where its a seperate agency.
Were probable not the best in this area but I would not have thought were anywhere near the worst when you consider some places.
I agree with you here that I would HATE trying to deal with asylum seekers from contries who've had mental coppers. It's gotta be really tough, and I imagine they totally freak out as soona s you approach them. Not a job I'm envious of at all.
I can only go on my experiences. I've not dealt with police in france or spain. I was in new York a while ago, though, and there were cops everywhere. They seemed to be on some kind of PR offensive (this was in time square). There were kids getting photos beside their cars. It was great. I went into the time square garda station to ask about a police museum I'd heard about locally. The guys in there were so friendly. We got chatting, and they ended up writing out a list of good pubs locally, and good places to eat. again, that's just my experience.
I would also agree that, while some gardai see the entire population of some estates as being scumbags, they get it back in spades. What i mean by that is that a lot of people from some area immediately assume all gardai are scum, because of their experiences with a few.
So, in fairness, I would defo agree that it's a two wway street.0 -
pokerface_me wrote: »Yes i trust them to a degree......But as a force they are useless, wouldn't even bother to ring them if i was a victim of crime.
No matter what people say about their dangerous driving, on mobile phones constantly, and not dealing with scum who rule our streets i.e( the 50 or so members hiding behind their vehicles in dorset street the other night) they always have an excuse.
I know safety is a massive issue, but there is more people killed and injured on Building Sites than in the whole of the Gardai, fire service, ambulances, prison officers put together, just get on with the job lads stop making Excuses because us the public are sick of them.
The_nog, as much as you don't like what he's saying, I'm afraid to say that a lot of people share the above opinion.0 -
This is the most idiotic post put on the ES forum ever. Congratulations Pokerface.
Last warning for you. Next time and you are out of here.
Sorry why am i once again warned for voicing my opinion.
You asked the question. How do you perceive the overall work of the Gardai?
Why am i not allowed to be honest on how i perceive the overall work of the Gardai?
Have i said something that is not truthful or out of order???0 -
pokerface_me wrote: »Sorry why am i once again warned for voicing my opinion.
You asked the question. How do you perceive the overall work of the Gardai?
Why am i not allowed to be honest on how i perceive the overall work of the Gardai?
Have i said something that is not truthful or out of order???
That was a ridiculous statement! Unless your holding public forums with your neighbours about how sick ye are of safety in the emergency services think twice before humiliating yourself;)0 -
tallaght01 wrote: »The_nog, as much as you don't like what he's saying, I'm afraid to say that a lot of people share the above opinion.pokerface_me wrote: »Sorry why am i once again warned for voicing my opinion.
You asked the question. How do you perceive the overall work of the Gardai?
Why am i not allowed to be honest on how i perceive the overall work of the Gardai?
Have i said something that is not truthful or out of order???
Hang on a second. Pokerface is saying that the 50 uniformed members should be charging a group of 30 people who are throwing missiles???
If both of ye were Gardai, would ye charge a missile throwing mob with absolutely no protection? Ye would in your ****.
And if I remember correctly someone else who saw this on Dorset st said the 50 uniformed members were actually standing behind a line of the public order unit. Same set up as during the Love Ulster riot.0 -
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Sorry Nog but in my opinion not having a go at you or Members of the Gardai, i feel that 50 highly trained Gardai behind a Public Order unit should be able to Deal with 30 stone throwing scumbags.0
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Hang on a second. Pokerface is saying that the 50 uniformed members should be charging a group of 30 people who are throwing missiles???
If both of ye were Gardai, would ye charge a missile throwing mob with absolutely no protection? Ye would in your ****.
And if I remember correctly someone else who saw this on Dorset st said the 50 uniformed members were actually standing behind a line of the public order unit. Same set up as during the Love Ulster riot.
I said a lot of people share his opinions. I think he means the gardai shoud have the ability to deal with that situation. I think a lot of people would agree.
It's hardly a disciplinary offence!0 -
Pokerface, ask yourself this, how many more people work in construction rather than in emergency services? Alot more, so clearly, there would be a lot more deaths. How many of these deaths in construction industry are due to dealings with the public? Very few, more will be from not taking adaquete safety precautions alot of the time. The emergency services
I do trust the gardai, and thats from having dealings with alot of them, some through social activities as sport also. Having approached police in germany, france, spain and italy, i found all 4 nations were quite ignorant, no time for me and overall not in a splendid mood, however, any garda, bar 1 i have ever had to ask for directions or had dealings with all over the country have been very friendly, with no problems whatsoever.
The only problem i have ever had with a garda was when a uniformed gard was in an unmarked car, i spotted the car well off, he randomly hopped out and started seaching me(i was walking home, about 4pm), he was awful arogant,once he found out who i was, he was very sympathetic, offering a lift home and all, so he wouldnt get in **** basically, he was loving the power, young garda, maube one of his first times out on his own! Thats some of the attitude in the force, on another occasion, i needed help from a traffic corp collision investigator for a project, he was super, spent time, gave me reports to help me and any advice i wanted.
Overall, i trust the gardai alot, there are bad aples though.
The worst problem is the respect the public give sometimes, the gardai walk into a shop in uniform, try to buy something and they are told to take it for free,this leads them to think yeh they do have power, and they start abusing it!0 -
pokerface_me wrote: »Sorry Nog but in my opinion not having a go at you or Members of the Gardai, i feel that 50 highly trained Gardai behind a Public Order unit should be able to Deal with 30 stone throwing scumbags.
Im sorry but its time to face reality here. There was not 50 Gardai on duty there. For the loove of god there was only 1 public order van with 8 officers on duty in the north city centre with the regular amount of patrols covering.
Dorset Street is in the U which means 1 car, possible 2 (thats 4 Gardai). Assuming that units from nearby were free and able to assist you got a max of 4 more from the D, Maybe 10 from the C, possible another 4 from the B and maybe another 2 from the UA. MAX. Thats less than half whats being suggested and I doubt there was even that many. Now factor in that the two original Gardai responding were gone to hospital and that the 30 (Im betting the scumbags were closer to 50) were on various floors throwing missiles at unarmed Gardai with no protective gear, helmets or shields it would be lambs to the slaughter.
And like I said, it was Holloween, I know for a fact there were not that many units free to assist when the call came in. Sure a fireman was attacked on Sheriff street so thats all the C units tied up for starters. There were fires in the B so the B lads were tied up. I could go on.
Are you really suggesting that this was the only call for ES in the whole of Dublin city????? It was on my arse0 -
Pokerface, ask yourself this, how many more people work in construction rather than in emergency services? Alot more, so clearly, there would be a lot more deaths. How many of these deaths in construction industry are due to dealings with the public? Very few, more will be from not taking adaquete safety precautions alot of the time. The emergency services
I do trust the gardai, and thats from having dealings with alot of them, some through social activities as sport also. Having approached police in germany, france, spain and italy, i found all 4 nations were quite ignorant, no time for me and overall not in a splendid mood, however, any garda, bar 1 i have ever had to ask for directions or had dealings with all over the country have been very friendly, with no problems whatsoever.
The only problem i have ever had with a garda was when a uniformed gard was in an unmarked car, i spotted the car well off, he randomly hopped out and started seaching me(i was walking home, about 4pm), he was awful arogant,once he found out who i was, he was very sympathetic, offering a lift home and all, so he wouldnt get in **** basically, he was loving the power, young garda, maube one of his first times out on his own! Thats some of the attitude in the force, on another occasion, i needed help from a traffic corp collision investigator for a project, he was super, spent time, gave me reports to help me and any advice i wanted.
Overall, i trust the gardai alot, there are bad aples though.
The worst problem is the respect the public give sometimes, the gardai walk into a shop in uniform, try to buy something and they are told to take it for free,this leads them to think yeh they do have power, and they start abusing it!
Timmy i hear you man, as i said i do trust the Gardai to an extent and i've always found them alright, i have 1 close friend who is a serving member. I've told him in the past basically what i said here, and he agrees to an extent, i understand they are over streched, under resourced but they still have a job to do. And on the streets of Dublin 24 where i live they are not doing it.0 -
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Karlitosway1978 wrote: »Completely incorrect and putting words in my mouth Boston, lame tactics of the defeated.
you said it wasn't your job to report crimes.First off, yes your name is withheld if you make a complaint to Gardai. We are, at no stage, told who has made the complaint against us nor are we permitted to ask or be told so please, know your facts before commenting as clearly you dont.The Super told me her name
You two lads need to get your stories straight. Pretend I'm a concerned father whose son has been beaten to death in one of your ceils, talk to each other and come back to me when you're both singing off the same hymn sheet.Secondly, when did I say I would not take action? If a colleague commits a crime I would prosecute them, my earlier post clearly demonstrated thats how Gardai operate. As I said, we dont make complaints we investigate them.
You wouldn't turn a colleague in. Thats the bottom line.Now for a little fact you probable dont know either, Gardai cannot make complaints against other Gardai to the Ombudsman. Doesnt matter if your complaint is as a result of action taken while on or off duty. We simple cant go to the Ombudsman so again, I have less rights than you.
You can make an internal complaint.0 -
you said it wasn't your job to report crimes.
You two lads need to get your stories straight. Pretend I'm a concerned father whose son has been beaten to death in one of your ceils, talk to each other and come back to me when you're both signing off the same hymn sheet.
You wouldn't turn a colleague in. Thats the bottom line.
You can make an internal complaint.
Flame on Boston! :cool:0 -
The civility you want Hagar is also missing from your posts too. It would be a fair assessment that if you come on here and post in a some what aggressive tone then you will get some aggression back.0
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you said it wasn't your job to report crimes.
You two lads need to get your stories straight. Pretend I'm a concerned father whose son has been beaten to death in one of your ceils, talk to each other and come back to me when you're both signing off the same hymn sheet.
You wouldn't turn a colleague in. Thats the bottom line.
You can make an internal complaint.
A, Correct. I am not paid to make reports concerning crime. You seem confused about my role in society.
B, Ah well now were getting to your soul. Clearly you have a grudge. Tell me, when has this happened?
C, when you make a complaint AGAINST a Garda to the Ombudsman. I would have thought most people understood that. Try reading the Garda Siochana Act instead of guess work.
D, Nope, I would arrest them as is my duty to do so. I also took an oath. Wheres the confusion?
E, Internal complaint for a crime? So by your reasoning I should fail to take action and simple send a report later on? Yep, thats far better than arresting them.0 -
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A, I'm not paid to report crimes either, guess I shouldn't then? Theres something called a social conscience and civic duty.
B, When has someone died in a ceil? I found this list, but it only goes up to 2005 and heres a nice article. I have never been arrested or even questioned by a member of the Gardai. Nor do I have a grudge or hostility towards them.
C, I understand the complaints a generally dealt with internally.
D, Really?
E, Abuse of position including criminal behaviour but not limited to it. To take tallaghts example, would you report a racist colleague?0
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