Snow 'kept gardaí from rape victim'
Frontline gardaí were unable to respond to a rape victim over Christmas because their patrol cars were not fitted with snow tyres.
One member of the force was called upon to use his own 4x4 to get to the victim in Co Donegal and take a statement.
Sergeant Paul Wallace, based at Letterkenny Garda station, said the ordeal was just one example of the major difficulties they experienced during the big freeze.
“Around Christmas, a victim made an allegation of rape,” he said.
“But we were unable to get to the victim because of the weather conditions. A member had to use his own private car to get to her and take her statement.”
Sgt Wallace, speaking at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) conference, said the force’s fleet was not adequate for dealing with emergencies in extreme weather.
“We had a major difficulty coping with the snow,” he said.
“We were given snow socks to put on our tyres. They are fine for heavy falls of snow, but on hard packed ice you need snow tyres, like other police forces have.”
During the worst of the winter weather, Donegal gardaí had to call in a mountain rescue team because they did not have the vehicles to get to certain parts of the county, said Sgt Wallace.
Officers are increasingly having to use their own private cars to carry out everyday duties as part of their work in the force during treacherous conditions, he said.
“If a person is in peril or in difficulty, their first call is to the gardaí,” he said.
“When we get the call we have to have the ability to respond.”
There are around 110 4x4s in the Garda fleet of 20,700 vehicles – less than 4%, said Sgt Wallace.
“The majority of the 4x4s are in Dublin, only about 30 are throughout the rest of the state,” he added.
Last week, rank and file gardaí complained that patrol cars are not powerful enough.
The Garda Representative Association said they were losing old cars from the force’s fleet at a rate of one a day and they are not being replaced because of cutbacks.
Many of the cars they are left with are not fast enough to catch up with more powerful vehicles on the road, the body claimed.
