Irish crime from a Guard's POV??

Vomit · 13-07-2013 5:53pm #1

With all the threads in forums like AH about Dublin junkies, wasters and troublemakers on the Luas red line etc., what is the view of the Gardai on the causes, or the possible solution to this kind of problem?

Do we have more of a problem with this kind of thing than other European countries, or is it the same? People have pointed out that Germans (for example) know not to mess with the Polizei. Do we need more police funding in Ireland to deal with the size of our crime problems?

It seems that other countries have police forces with a more militaristic image/uniform (or at least include divisions that look like that).

Any Gardai here have an opinion on this?

goldie fish · 13-07-2013 6:28pm

Spoke to a garda here today, I'm sure his attitude reflects that of most others in the force.

His wages just dropped six grand, he gets one weekend off in six. He isn't sure why he bothers any more. The crime situation is secondary.

jamesr123 · 13-07-2013 11:48pm

goldie fish wrote: »

Spoke to a garda here today, I'm sure his attitude reflects that of most others in the force.

His wages just dropped six grand, he gets one weekend off in six. He isn't sure why he bothers any more. The crime situation is secondary.

Funny, I spoke to one today who seemed like a very upbeat chap. I could'nt resist asking him about the job and his answer was ''ah, I won't go hungry anyway'' I also asked him if he planned on staying in the guards and he said if somthing else came along he'd be gone out of there asap.

23-07-2013 11:37pm

The problem isn't the Gardaí themselves. In my experience, most of them are a sound, friendly bunch, doing a job that they got into because they want to have some positive impact on the world around them.

In my honest opinion, the Gardaí don't need new cars, a better uniform, less/more stations, etc. to make a dent in the widespread crime issues in this country. The people on this forum might admire a '132' fancy patrol car with new markings and lights, or a new stab vest that is more comfortable to wear, but the average criminal wouldn't even notice it.

What the Gardaí in this country need, more than anything else, is a judicial system that comes down hard on every single person that is caught by Gardaí committing a crime (especially crimes of malicious nature).

I had to go into Drogheda Court a while back as part of work, and while there I seen a fair few people come and go. Every scumbag that was up for a legitimate offence got a suspended sentence or their case put back for 6 months. The only time I seen the judge doing anything of note, was a fine for a fella that got caught taking a piss down a back alley at 3am on the town (a town that lacks public toilets). This gent was clearly embarrassed to even be there, and made an effort to dress formally for his court appearance.

I don't even know why the Gardaí stopped him, to be honest (surely there's more to be doing at 3am than picking up some fella that has nowhere to go to the toilet?!) but it really sickened me to see it.

If I ever have to go into that court again I reckon I'll make the news. I'd explode in a fit of rage at the incompetence and carelessness on show. It's almost a parody of itself.

But my point is: If I can run up the bonnet of a patrol car, boot the windscreen in on top of the driver, spit on them, push, pull and kick them, have another car come up to restrain me, waste the time of at least 4 Gardaí and take a car off the road, and the worst I'll see for doing that is a suspended sentence, then I see no reason why I should fear the Gardaí.

To the average criminal, the Gardaí are an inconvenience (at most).

I find it frustrating to sit here talking about it to be honest. I can only imagine how it feels to be arguing, fighting and arresting the same faces over and over again. I'd love to be a Garda, as I feel they do have a genuine positive impact, but I don't envy them for a minute.

voter1983 · 24-07-2013 7:53pm

Well said but the new patrol cars are a necessity too. The new stab vests and new uniform would be nice too. At least the gardai will be comfortable in what they wear.

Potential-Monke · 25-07-2013 1:18am

First and foremost, what KKV said is the biggest hurdle facing the Gardaí. A revolving door system that plays into the hands of criminals. And those who do get sentences spending a couple of hours in jail. Which brings me to the second biggest problem (even though both a linked) - prisons.

This country doesn't have enough prison space. We need at least 1 more prison, if not 2. And we need to fill them with criminals, not people caught on hard times. Someone who owes money to the state from a civil case will spend their entire sentence behind bars. Someone who owes money from a criminal case (ie: breach of bail/penal warrants/etc) will spend a couple of hours to a couple of days at most. It's ridiculous.

The rest is my opinion only.

Drugs: In my opinion, the easiest way to tackle the drug supply problem is by legalising certain drugs. Cannabis should be legalised for recreational use, and treated like alcohol. (Check out the countries that have legalised it, it works). Ecstacy should be legalised but only available through a pharmacy to ensure quality. Pure MDMA powder, controlled, is not as dangerous as people are led to believe. By legalising these two drugs, you would have a massive impact on a criminals ability to make money to fund other crimes. Cannabis alone would do this. In the meantime, a fixed charge should be brought in for personal use quantities - the user is not the problem.

Fitness: it should be part of the job. It should be mandatory to keep fit. It's all too easy for a Garda to fall into a routine of sitting in a car/station for up to 10 hours a day and not get any exercise. How this would be implemented/enforced/tracked is above my pay grade, but it should be.

Equipment: a better stab vest that allows more movement and breathing, tazers as standard (imo, way more effective and safer than pepper spray/asp), linked PULSE systems for vehicles, ANPR on every car, and a more suitable uniform for outdoor duties - wearing the vest, shirt, tie and pants on the beat for the last few weeks was torture! My washing machine didn't know what hit it!!!

Numbers: simply put, we don't have enough Gardaí working. We need more.

Of course, this all links back to money, which this country doesn't have, so we just have to suck it up, grin and bear. Begrudgingly.

Blindside87 · 26-07-2013 4:13pm

Do we actually need more Prison space though?

On the US prison documentaries they have 12 cellmates in a jail cell (I know that is different to prison but still). I am all for cramming scumbags in together to be honest..

wotswattage · 29-07-2013 5:32pm

I'm not a mule myself, but every guard I talk to seems to be sick and tired of catching the same scumbag for the same offence every few weeks. Harsh sentences are one thing, but we need a prison system that works, not just the bed & board system we have at the moment. Re-offence rates are terribly high regardless of the sentence length... I'm not going to start spouting hippy liberal crap about rehabilitation but the system simply isn't working at the moment. I don't know the answer, but longer sentences are only one part of it.

Another thing guard friends despair is being sent out on dawn arrest warrants for people who haven't paid their tv licence, and I can understand why. They are sick of hearing the old 'have you nothing better to be doing' comment. They know they do.

Thirdly (and this my own opinion), there seems to be a disconnect between what the public think the gardai do, and what they actually do. I'm talking about the abuse, harassment and absolute ****e that regular members go through on a daily basis. Joe public seem to think all gardai do is check for tax & insurance and saunter about cherry picking handy jobs as they see fit. There seems to be an under-reporting/lack of knowledge of a lot of what gardai go through during the course of their duty. I don't know exactly what this is down to, but the press office must have a hand to play here, and members themselves should be publicising that they deal with abusive scumbags and are regularly spat upon, assaulted, and harassed by the worst elements of society on a daily basis.

My 2c which isn't really relevant:
Now I've had a good few bad experiences with the Gardai myself over the past few years, things I would label a lack of professionalism like not getting back in contact with regards to what I would consider a big deal. It might not be to a guard dealing with an incident, but being told 'sorry I clean forgot about it' 3 or 4 times in a row gets a bit tiresome. While I said I'd label these things a lack of professionalism, I think its mainly down to people who have no business being in the job, giving the 90% of good guards I've dealt with a bad name. I'd even bring up a name to ask what the story is and I'd get a reply along the lines of 'he's hopeless...' But they still have to work with him and nobody is going to fire him...

Potential-Monke · 30-07-2013 5:55pm

wotswattage wrote: »

Thirdly (and this my own opinion), there seems to be a disconnect between what the public think the gardai do, and what they actually do. I'm talking about the abuse, harassment and absolute ****e that regular members go through on a daily basis. Joe public seem to think all gardai do is check for tax & insurance and saunter about cherry picking handy jobs as they see fit. There seems to be an under-reporting/lack of knowledge of a lot of what gardai go through during the course of their duty. I don't know exactly what this is down to, but the press office must have a hand to play here, and members themselves should be publicising that they deal with abusive scumbags and are regularly spat upon, assaulted, and harassed by the worst elements of society on a daily basis.

Ah but shur tis part of the job, we knew what we were signing up for, if we don't like it we can quit... :rolleyes: That is the exact response you'll get from a lot of people when you tell them what it's really like.

But i agree, there needs to be some sort of social aspect to the Gardai which informs the public of day to day incidents.

bravestar · 30-07-2013 7:39pm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Ah but shur tis part of the job, we knew what we were signing up for, if we don't like it we can quit... :rolleyes: That is the exact response you'll get from a lot of people when you tell them what it's really like.

But i agree, there needs to be some sort of social aspect to the Gardai which informs the public of day to day incidents.

A real TV show, not like the crap that's already been done, that would show what members actually do would help.

FGR · 01-08-2013 6:42pm

'Guards' is filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement. The suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

02-08-2013 3:16am

FGR wrote: »

'Guards' is filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement. The suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Bad boys, bad boys, what'cha gonna do, what'cha gonna do, when the local Garda station doesn't have the budget to come for you.

Not quite as catchy...

Irish crime from a Guard's POV??

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