Policing forums begin countrywide
Crime and enforcement problems will be tackled in public as policing forums were today rolled out across the country.
Joint Policing Committees will be held in 114 local authorities after new guidelines were signed by the Government.
Gardaí, council officials, Oireachtas members and local residents will meet to discuss key issues affecting their communities and decide how to deal with them.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he believed that, over time, these committees will make an enormous contribution to keeping communities safe.
“Fundamentally, they represent a partnership between the people, through their representatives and An Garda Síochána,” Mr Ahern said in City Hall, Dublin.
“Individual members of An Garda Síochána, and public representatives, have always tried to work closely together to solve problems in the communities they serve.
“Joint Policing Committees provide a structured way in which gardai and public representatives can come together, along with other community interests, to address the problems of crime – and, indeed, the problems that may be contributing to crime – in their areas.”
A pilot scheme involving 29 committees was launched over the last two years under the Garda Síochána Act 2005. It included five subcommittees in Dublin city.
At one recent pilot committee hearing in Waterford it emerged that gardaí in the city have worked more than 12,000 hours of overtime in the past two months dealing with a feud between a number of families from the Traveller community.
The new guidelines, signed by Mr Ahern and Environment Minister John Gormley, take on board the experience gained in the pilot phase.
The committees will host public meetings as well as monitor levels and patterns of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour and look at the misuse of alcohol, drugs and other underlying factors which contribute to crime.
Members will then advise the local authority and gardaí on how to tackle issues in their areas, improve the safety and quality of life for residents, prevent crime and how to best perform their functions.
Mr Gormley added: “Joint Policing Committees are also a means by which communities can have an increased sense that policing in their areas reflects their concerns and the support of the entire community for the work of An Garda Síochána can be maintained and developed.”
