Garda Reserve Experiences

On that point is there anyone stationed in Droghheda, Ardee or Carrickmacross? Just wondering as that looks to be the area im heading!

The almighty me

there is 2 in Drogheda I think

Bored-Stupid wrote: »

On that point is there anyone stationed in Droghheda, Ardee or Carrickmacross? Just wondering as that looks to be the area im heading!

I was stationed in Drogheda as a Student Garda a couple of years ago. Are you looking for information on what it is like there?

TheNog wrote: »

I was stationed in Drogheda as a Student Garda a couple of years ago. Are you looking for information on what it is like there?

Well if you can. I reckon it will be there I will be stationed....wonder what the folks are like and what they think of reserves!

Bored-Stupid wrote: »

Well if you can. I reckon it will be there I will be stationed....wonder what the folks are like and what they think of reserves!

Drogheda is a brilliant town to work in. On the weekend nights I saw alot of public order while I still had great craic with people especially the wimmin. Basically I saw everything from a murder to a tiger kidnapping to lots of public order. A great variety of things. One weekend we had 18 prisoners but most of them were drunk drivers from a traffic campaign.

Having said that I really liked the people from there. Some very decent people and some pure mad.

Is there a chance you could be stationed in Ardee? It is going to be district HQ

Thanks for that......The seargent said that it will either be Drogheda or Ardee when it is the district HQ!! Like the sound of that and its closer to Dundalk!

Just wondering what the full time guards think of reserves there??

Bored-Stupid wrote: »

Just wondering what the full time guards think of reserves there??

I don;t know tbh. We have two reserves in our station but I have only met one of them. He's a nice fella and I think everyone gets on with him. Haven't heard anything bad said about him.

The best thing to do when you are out is to look, listen, learn and above get stuck in. Don't be like one student I heard about who bitched and moaned and refused to get out of the car. Lads will respect you more if you are active but make sure not to be careless to get yourself into trouble. Also don't be afraid to ask questions if you see something you don't understand or want clarification.

Just follow the lead of the Gardai you will be with.

Thanks Nog,

I know you dont know much about the reserves that work with you but what kind of jobs were they doing there??

Bored-Stupid wrote: »

Thanks Nog,

I know you dont know much about the reserves that work with you but what kind of jobs were they doing there??

The lad I met only twice but worked with him once came out in the car with me - very short on mnapower that night. It was a Sunday night and the town was dead so we did checkpoints and some speed checks. I showed him everything there is to know about checkpoints such as safety for himself and other road users, checking documents, spotting false documents, suspicious behaviour and drink driving. Also showed him how to detect speeders too.

Most importantly I showed him and got him to practice taking notes in his notebook. Might seem a bit silly but you never know when someone might complain or something a few weeks later and you won't remember a thing about it.

donman

you sound like a top man ''Nog''.well done to you for taking the time to show a reservist the ropes.i'm quite sure that you gain a vast amount of respect and gratitude from the reservist in question and the reservists that will hopefully follow.well done to you again and i hope we all meet with fulltimers like yourself who are willing to take the time to show us the do's & dont's of the job and also the other aspects of garda work.good luck to you.

Stay_in_Kampuchea

I passed out in November and all the Gards have been baaaaaaaang on.

Yeah Nog, as donman said you sound like a prized guard and the country could do with more like you! Hopefully I get someone with the same attention to detail and professionalism as yourself.....Thanks for all you help!

ifaughthelaw

hi im a reserve for the last six months or so if your from dundalk you might be posted in drogheda there are acouple of lads that passed out with me
from dundalk posted there.The only thing there might be enough reserves
there and you could be posted somewere else.hope you get on ok im in the louth area myself,if only all regular gardai were like the nog it would
be great.some gardai can be a bit standoffish towards us but if you keep your head down and assist the gardai your put with you will be fine i think
it takes a bit of time before they can trust you.i have earned respect with
some gardai by assisting them when they need me 99%of gardai in the station im in are sound the other 1% would look through you,even different ranks will look through you but dont give up if you want to be
a servant of the people you will have to perservere and ignore the odd
biggot.I love it and im here to stay

in control

ifaughthelaw wrote: »

hi im a reserve for the last six months or so if your from dundalk you might be posted in drogheda there are acouple of lads that passed out with me
from dundalk posted there.The only thing there might be enough reserves
there and you could be posted somewere else.hope you get on ok im in the louth area myself,if only all regular gardai were like the nog it would
be great.some gardai can be a bit standoffish towards us but if you keep your head down and assist the gardai your put with you will be fine i think
it takes a bit of time before they can trust you.i have earned respect with
some gardai by assisting them when they need me 99%of gardai in the station im in are sound the other 1% would look through you,even different ranks will look through you but dont give up if you want to be
a servant of the people you will have to perservere and ignore the odd
biggot.I love it and im here to stay

Agree with you one hundred per cent . Have nearly 2 years done and everything you say is correct. Find it tough at times to balance work committments ,family etc but most of the time its worth it. Just curious if we are going to be granted extra powers in the future. Has anybody heard anything on the grapevine?

KIERAN61

in control wrote: »

Agree with you one hundred per cent . Have nearly 2 years done and everything you say is correct. Find it tough at times to balance work committments ,family etc but most of the time its worth it. Just curious if we are going to be granted extra powers in the future. Has anybody heard anything on the grapevine?

While it would be handy to have section 4,6, and 8 Public order do you really want to be bogged down with paperwork court appearances etc.When would you get the time to investigate incidences carry out interviews etc.While this all looks good in theory I think in reality it could prove to be a nightmare.

on standby

doingmybit wrote: »

To answer you question on the vetting, if your application is still live, well yes it can take up to a year or more. Depends if some of your relatives are living abroad and so on, my advise to you is to contact your local serg. or super (depends on who you have the best relationship with) and ask them their advise. Simply put it to them that you may feel one of your family members might be holding your GR2 form clearance and if that is so, when can you expect an answer on your application statis. But, if your family member is just in trouble with the law (public order or just a messer) and not a hard line criminal or in an outlawed organisation you should be ok because they are really only concerned with you. I know many regulars and reserves that waited much more that a year. Also, the medical is the very last thing you do, so they just might be waiting for the next intake to conduct the medical. I think the next intake is in march 09 so expect some news mid feb 09. Good luck, it's wellllll worth it:)

Many Thanks for your reply...should be interesting to see how it all pans out
A slip of the pen is no fault of the mind

Thanks for the reply.

I was told that I will either be in Drogheda or the new district HQ in Ardee when its set up. What duties have you been given and what sort of problems have you received from the other guards?

In Control - Just saw you have been there 2 years. What duties have you been given over your term and also how would you sumn up your experience?

Thanks in advance!

The almighty me

see sinn fein are calling the reserve to be axed, wont be getting too much support there I hope.

The almighty me wrote: »

see sinn fein are calling the reserve to be axed, wont be getting too much support there I hope.

Sinn Féin

that's going to win them votes :rolleyes: idiots, good luck to them trying

Super's cannot authorise members to drive official vehicles. only the chief can. and the legislation that was selected for the reserves to enforce does not include traffic corps.....

Abraham

Is it true that these Reservists are leaving quicker than they are joining ?
Heard that disillusionment sets in early and a few good wettings and a dose of frosty mornings tests the mettle of these part-timers causes them to just slink away when the initial shine has gone.
True or false ?

Abraham wrote: »

Is it true that these Reservists are leaving quicker than they are joining ?
Heard that disillusionment sets in early and a few good wettings and a dose of frosty mornings tests the mettle of these part-timers causes them to just slink away when the initial shine has gone.
True or false ?

Exactement Monsieur.....that's what i'm hearing too. And i don't think that many have signed up so far. initially wasn't the garda top brass looking for 4,000..yes not a misprint... 4,000 of them? i heard its less that 200 so far

lancer326 wrote: »

well it's of no consequence what i am or whether or not i am a garda. the point i was making was that the thinking behind the reserve was to assist the full time garda force. i have reviewed the document the reserves are given when they begin their limited training and it said the duty and times it is to be performed would be assigned. if the reserves decided ah sure... i wont work friday nite and sure i dont want to work monday, then the system wouldn't relly work now would it?

for example what happens if a reserve makes an arrest and the accused decides to contest the charges? the reserve has no choice but to go to court to give evidence. so no choice about working during the week. you would be obliged to go to court. that's all.

Law student or something like that I'd say.

The dutys and times that a reserve will work will be assigned according to that reserves circumstances i.e work,family commitments etc .
A reserve must complete 208 hours in the year,it is up to the reserve how he/she will complete these 208 hours not the units Sgt.(so I have been told by my local Inspector and several reserves)

The limited powers a reserve has will result in hardly any opportunities for an arrest to be made thus resulting in hardly any requirements for the reserve to go to court,this is why the reserves have limited powers at present so that they won't be inconvienienced at their other jobs,college etc,there'd be very very few instances that a reserve would be ordered to attend court.

Abraham wrote: »

Is it true that these Reservists are leaving quicker than they are joining ?
Heard that disillusionment sets in early and a few good wettings and a dose of frosty mornings tests the mettle of these part-timers causes them to just slink away when the initial shine has gone.
True or false ?

This maybe true for some reserves but not all,it's like all jobs you'll have people coming and going if they don't like it same can be said I'm sure for the full timers.

lancer326 wrote: »

Exactement Monsieur.....that's what i'm hearing too. And i don't think that many have signed up so far. initially wasn't the garda top brass looking for 4,000..yes not a misprint... 4,000 of them? i heard its less that 200 so far

It was 4,000 then it was reduced to 1,400 and last I was told by my local Sgt that they're pretty close to that mark now.

ZoneAlarm

t amases me that a lot of the views on this thread are to the effect that you can work what shifts suit you and with whatever unit you like. that is not the case. you will be assigned to a particular unit and you will work the shifts you are rostered for, i.e. you can't say i'll work so ans so hours this week and so and so hours next week.

plus if you make an arrest during the weekend you WILL be required to go to court where the accused decides to contest the charges. you cannot pass on your obligation to give evidence of arresting onto another full time member 'cause you don't work during the week.

courts do not sit on weekends, so you will be in court during the week between 10.30 and 5p.m.ish.

according to a lot of people on here reserves do not go to court so i do not know what form you where reading that is the idea behind the public order that they do not have

about the hours from what i have also read here going back over the thread the Reserve can work what ever they want as long as they get up the hours that they need it is mad to suit around the hours and family commitment they have be it work or family

ZoneAlarm wrote: »

according to a lot of people on here reserves do not go to court so i do not know what form you where reading that is the idea behind the public order that they do not have

about the hours from what i have also read here going back over the thread the Reserve can work what ever they want as long as they get up the hours that they need it is mad to suit around the hours and family commitment they have be it work or family

if a reserve makes an arrest and the accused pleads not guilty then only the reserve can give evidence of arrest etc. Wait for it, i can see cases being struck out because the reserves cant get out of work to go to court where they have made an arrest.

CO19 wrote: »

Law student or something like that I'd say.

The dutys and times that a reserve will work will be assigned according to that reserves circumstances i.e work,family commitments etc .
A reserve must complete 208 hours in the year,it is up to the reserve how he/she will complete these 208 hours not the units Sgt.(so I have been told by my local Inspector and several reserves)

The limited powers a reserve has will result in hardly any opportunities for an arrest to be made thus resulting in hardly any requirements for the reserve to go to court,this is why the reserves have limited powers at present so that they won't be inconvienienced at their other jobs,college etc,there'd be very very few instances that a reserve would be ordered to attend court.

nope..... was a good few years ago. have a criminal law practice a long time now. just raising the inevitability of reserves having to go to court. looking forward to that

ZoneAlarm

lancer326 wrote: »

if a reserve makes an arrest and the accused pleads not guilty then only the reserve can give evidence of arrest etc. Wait for it, i can see cases being struck out because the reserves cant get out of work to go to court where they have made an arrest.

myself and another poster has already stated that the reserves have very limited power which result in reserves not being able to make arrests

except maybe in very rear circumstances that a`Reservist would need to make an arrest hence there limited powers they have at the present time

ZoneAlarm wrote: »

myself and another poster has already stated that the reserves have very limited power which result in reserves not being able to make arrests

except maybe in very rear circumstances that a`Reservist would need to make an arrest hence there limited powers they have at the present time

maybe, but with the present downturn in the economy they are going to slash recruitment to the full time garda and rely on reserves who they don't need to pay. i would bet you will see their powers being expanded, but i could be wrong.