Do primetime do more investigating than the Gardai?

Prime Time is a bit of handbags at dawn - who's main aims seem to be a bit suspect as far as I can see - there are tons of topics that they could pick that haven't been aired before; but the whole pick on the foreign workers i.e. the taxi drivers, the care workers in the old folks homes, the Romanians in the clothing banks is all a bit samey to me and I am wondering what the true agenda is here.....

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Do we really need another Garda bashing thread? Some people will use any excuse to critise them and it really gets tedious sometimes.

Like most profession some are useless but most are honest hardworking individuals who cop a lot of unfair and unwarrented abuse.

+1.

I ran out of petrol a while back at 2AM. I tried ringing people but of course everyone was asleep. The Guards picked me up. Drove me 5 miles to a closed petrol station. Woke up the owner and dropped me back to the car with a gallon of fuel. Stars!!!

theg81der wrote: »

There are no words to describe the contempt I have towards the guards and the full extent of how useless they are. They couldn`t carry out an investigation or lie straight in bed. They can`t even look after files or investigate murders of innocent people not that they even try in the first place. Everything about their general attitude makes me sick to my stomach - arrogant, ignorant, unsensitive, selfish .....I could go on all day.

Anyone who has any problem with what I just said can pm me and I`ll explain how my family know only to well how useless they are.

If this is your attitude I am not surprised you have had unpleasant experiences with them tbh.

tails_naf wrote: »

In fairness though, the Gardai at a local level seem pretty useless.

Friend had a car stolen - was told hard luck. You'd imagine the Gardai if they had any sense would at least try be on the look out to see if it was being lined up to be used in another crime, but no - they didn't care. Turns out it was only joy riders - but no effort was made to recover it for him.

Myself - I bought a car from a dealer - and after a few months suspected it was clocked. Went to the Gardai after a bit of looking into it. Was told 'What were they supposed to do - it was a civil matter'? Last I heard clocking was illegal - therefore a criminal matter - but they couldn't be arsed.

Tax and Insurance, and Drink Driving checks around Christmas are the only things I've seen them do.

Can anyone relate a story where a crime they know of WAS investigated by the Gardai - I don't mean murder or anything that serious - I mean theft, fraud, etc.

A burglary. A few years ago I was sitting in my back garden with friends enjoying beers and a BBQ. It was a gorgeous day and we were having a great time. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see this bright green fluorescent flash. I turn and see a guard climbing over the gate at the side of my house. Before I could say anything he said 'did you see anybody come through here?'
'No,' I said and then I realized there were guards everywhere - there were some in the neighbour's garden and when I went to the bottom of my own garden I could see guards on walls and in other people's gardens.
Out on the road, there were more - a lot of detectives too. Then, overhead I hear the whirring of a helicopter; it was the garda chopper scanning the area. We counted 18 cops in total looking for a burglar. They checked every garden along a long stretch of my road, front and back and eventually caught him trying to swim across the grand canal.

I couldn't believe how seriously they took the crime and the resources they used to catch him. After all, my house had been burgled before - as had others I knew and there was no effort like this.

I found out later it was a guard's house.

professore wrote: »

Let me say though that most dealings I have had with the Gardai have been positive. Some seem disinterested in their job though.

I'd say this is probably the most fair comment. Saying they are useless or brilliant isn't true. They are for the most part disinterested.

The problem I have with that is they are being paid the same, whether they actively do their job, or not.

I've had positive dealings with them for the small stuff - passport applications, etc (except having to wait till 10am for the station to open, thus making me late for work).

For anything closer to a crime (albeit small crimes), the answer has been 'what do you want us to do' (in the clocking case), or 'that's a civil matter'.

I know people who have been burgled, with no investigation (sure the insurance will cover it)..

I was in sligo about 5 years ago, and a very drunk old man hit the car we were in as he pulled out from the pub. Guards were called, we of course weren't going to press charges as he was old, and damage was small - but our mouths fell open when the Guard didn't drive the man home - he let him back into his car - and said "Take it handy on they way home, paddy". Obviously well known to the Guards, and infairness a danger.

I'm sure at the high level investigation stuff they may be fine - but at the everyday crime stuff, I just have not seen them to care about upholding the law and catching those who break it.

tails_naf wrote: »

In fairness though, the Gardai at a local level seem pretty useless.

Friend had a car stolen - was told hard luck. You'd imagine the Gardai if they had any sense would at least try be on the look out to see if it was being lined up to be used in another crime, but no - they didn't care. Turns out it was only joy riders - but no effort was made to recover it for him.

Myself - I bought a car from a dealer - and after a few months suspected it was clocked. Went to the Gardai after a bit of looking into it. Was told 'What were they supposed to do - it was a civil matter'? Last I heard clocking was illegal - therefore a criminal matter - but they couldn't be arsed.

Tax and Insurance, and Drink Driving checks around Christmas are the only things I've seen them do.

Can anyone relate a story where a crime they know of WAS investigated by the Gardai - I don't mean murder or anything that serious - I mean theft, fraud, etc.

I'm no fan of the gardaí but this kind of attitude is silly.

Your friend had his car stolen. What do you want them to do - click theyir fingers and magic it back? Did he have a gps tracker on the car? No. Did he have any CCTV? No. Any leads at all? No. By the time the car was reported stolen it was most likely either burnt out in a field or had it's plates changed and on a ferry to England.

People need to learn to look after themselves to a certain extent. The gaurds are there to investigate crime and hopefully prevent it. They can't be everywhere at once (nor would we want them to be).

They do a good job as far as I can see. Their methods can be a little crude when compared to UK police. And certain members should get the boot. But all in all, we have a pretty fair and useful police force in comparison to the MAJORITY of the world. I'd prefer the guards to middle-eastern police forces, Asian police, eastern European police, Russian police and even some US forces.

(All of the above is with the exception of the Garda Public Order Unit / Riot Squad. Scumbags).

Dean0088 wrote: »

I'm no fan of the gardaí but this kind of attitude is silly.

Your friend had his car stolen. What do you want them to do - click theyir fingers and magic it back? Did he have a gps tracker on the car? No. Did he have any CCTV? No. Any leads at all? No. By the time the car was reported stolen it was most likely either burnt out in a field or had it's plates changed and on a ferry to England.

People need to learn to look after themselves to a certain extent. The gaurds are there to investigate crime and hopefully prevent it. They can't be everywhere at once (nor would we want them to be).

They do a good job as far as I can see. Their methods can be a little crude when compared to UK police. And certain members should get the boot. But all in all, we have a pretty fair and useful police force in comparison to the MAJORITY of the world. I'd prefer the guards to middle-eastern police forces, Asian police, eastern European police, Russian police and even some US forces.

(All of the above is with the exception of the Garda Public Order Unit / Riot Squad. Scumbags).

Why ? the public order unit is probably one of the most professional units in the Gaurds.

Dean0088 wrote: »

I'm no fan of the gardaí but this kind of attitude is silly.

Your friend had his car stolen. What do you want them to do - click theyir fingers and magic it back? Did he have a gps tracker on the car? No. Did he have any CCTV? No. Any leads at all? No. By the time the car was reported stolen it was most likely either burnt out in a field or had it's plates changed and on a ferry to England.

OK let me fill you in on the details.
Friend has car stolen outside his workplace. Went into work, came out, car gone. Immediately went to the Garda station, to report it. He was told there an then there was nothing they could do. If it turns up, they will let him know.

Now, stolen cars are often used in crimes - so at least they would send out the reg to the lads on the beat, and to be on the look out for it. Why does the victim have to personally have cctv, or a gps tracker. I'm not asking for magic, just an attempt made to catch those responsible.
Of course he had no leads himself - he had the location, approx time and make and model of the car. No more no less than you or I would have if it happened to us.

And by the way - about a month later, my friend saw his car parked in the city. He still had the key on his set of keys, so got in and 'stole' it back. All that time, it was being driven around the city. So not burnt out, not in england, no plates changed - and certainly not being looked for by our well paid boys in blue.

The main point though is, right from the start they said they would do nothing about it. Looking for it could catch a lowlife / regular thief, or prevent a bigger crime - It's the not bothering that really gets to me.

Mr Jinx wrote: »

Why ? the public order unit is probably one of the most professional units in the Gaurds.

Seriously? I mean is that a **** take or?

I'm not a scumbag by any stretch of the imagination and have no axe to grind with any gardaí. Never had a bit of bother and even had a laugh with a few around college during the security operation for Lizzie.

But come on. The public order unit havn't a clue how to handle a large crowd of protesters. They're fine dealing with 50-60 scumbags throwing bottles like last week when the Queen was here.

But anything else and they become the scum. Battoning people on the ground. Shielding reporters from recording their actions (yes). Squaring up to peaceful protesters like two scumbags who've had too much to drink would. Backing horses over people witting down on the ground. You'd expect harsh hands when dealing with massive riots that are taking over sections of the city such as the likes they have up the North. The POU overreact on a regular basis. I think they don't see enough 'action' so when the time comes for them to form a line in front of a peaceful demonstration - they become Sparta or some ****.

I'd fully support Army public order units being deployed until that lot can be retrained - preferably by the PSNI. The Army units have behaved very professionally even when under fire from petrol bombs, bricks, nail bombs and on occasion even live rounds in Kosovo. Much more than any riot in Ireland has escalated too. You don't hear about it on the news much but there's a fair few videos on YouTube and a couple of RTE reports up there too.