Senior gardaí criticise new 'idealistic' policing model

Senior Garda officers have strongly criticised the new Operating Policing Model which is being introduced by the Garda Commissioner.

They say it has led to them losing their links with local communities and the staff they supervise.

Garda Superintendents have also called for an increase in the number of gardaí appointed to the rank and have described the current limiting economic framework as inadequate, unsatisfactory and unacceptable.

The Association of Garda Superintendents is holding its annual conference in Co Meath today and is due to be addressed by the Commissioner and the Minister for Justice.

Garda superintendents are the senior operational leaders and decision makers on the ground in An Garda Síochána.

They say they have in the last year faced and policed many difficult situations including the riots in Dublin city centre and in Coolock, which illustrate the challenges in modern day policing and the ever-increasing demands being placed on them.

The Superintendents' association says that while dealing with new processes, new structures, new responsibilities and additional demands, they still face the same problems and are expected to "make do with what they have".

They say the problems they continue to face include, insufficient resources, inadequate accommodation and operating within unworkable geographical configurations.

They are particularly critical of the new Operating Policing Model introduced by the Commissioner Drew Harris.

They describe it as "idealistic" and "rushed or forced through without consideration" of the impact on the people tasked to deliver it, and more importantly on the communities the gardaí serve.

Losing links to local communities

The President of the Association of Garda Superintendents, Detective Superintendent Colm Murphy says that because of the Operating Policing Model Divisions, they are losing the links with local communities and with their personnel.

The Association cites the Clare/Tipperary Division as an example of an area that is too large and with limited resources.

Previously there were four Superintendents in Co Clare it says, but under the new policing model there is now just one, based in Ennis. The previous superintendents were also based in Killaloo, Ennistymon and Kilrush.

The Association says there is only one detective superintendent in that division now with responsibility for all serious crime from Loop Head on the Atlantic Coast to the Tipperary border with Kilkenny.

It also says the detective superintendent for Cork County’s area of responsibility stretches from Youghal to the Beara Peninsula and up to Mitchelstown, Charleville and Millstreet.

The Association has also called for the Economic Control Framework, which limits the number of Superintendents to 168, to be increased.

This limit they say, is "wholly inadequate, unsatisfactory and unacceptable," and has placed significant pressures and "an increased burden" on them because of additional demands, expectations and responsibilities.

These include having to police an increased number of protests, high profile sporting events, concerts, public order policing, extraordinary events, Operating Policing Model realignment and the deployment of Garda Superintendents as Regional Garda Liaison Officers abroad.

General Secretary Michael Comyns says they are seeking an increase of at least twenty superintendents as they are needed to adequately police the country.

He also says the current limit of 168 is purely for financial reasons as part of an economic framework but that there is a statutory provision "a ranks order" that allows for up to 191 Superintendents to be appointed.