Government plans to increase the Garda force to 15,000 sworn members in the next 18 months are no longer enough to keep pace with policing demands in the Republic, superintendents believe. They were set to raise the matter on Wednesday with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee at their annual conference, in Naas, Co Kildare.
The Association of Garda Superintendents will also present research showing a sizeable number of its members reported being subjected to false anonymous allegations made against them, either through official complaints mechanisms or being subjected to defamatory claims made on social media. Almost half of the superintendents surveyed by the association reported being subjected to “false allegations that damaged their reputation” and a third said they were targeted by false allegations on social media.
The president of the association, Limerick-based Supt Seamus Nolan, is set to use his address to conference to echo the statement made last month by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris when he said the planned 15,000-strong Garda force will need to be expanded if current policing services are to be maintained.
Many Garda members have said while increased specialisation in the force — involving the creation of new or bigger units with specific expertise to investigate complex crimes — is welcome, it is drawing resources away from frontline policing on the streets. For example, Garda Divisional Protective Services Bureaus, which investigate sexual crimes and...
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