Recession was ‘excuse for inaction’ on reform, says former head of the Garda Inspectorate
The former head of the Garda Inspectorate has revealed how she “seldom interacted” with former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and how “the economic crisis was referenced regularly as an excuse for inaction” on police reform within government.
Kathleen O’Toole’s comments are contained in her thesis submitted to the Trinity College Dublin School of Business, entitled The Garda Inspectorate: Driving Collaborative Reform Through a Model of Equilibrated Governance.
Ms O’Toole was appointed in 2006 as the first chief inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, before more recently heading up the Commission on the Future of Policing, which this week issued a report recommending changes to community policing and a new framework for Garda oversight.
She began her career as a patrol officer in Boston in 1979, serving on the Patten Commission in the North.
In her thesis she writes that Fachtna Murphy, Garda commissioner for three years until December 2010, “was known as a decent, principled man” but who also “had a reputation for being autocratic”.
As for the next commissioner, Martin Callinan: “... I anticipated a more collaborative, democratic form of management when he assumed the role. That expectation never materialised. I seldom interacted with Callinan, in person or on the phone. He seemed to retreat to a more insular style, spending little time in the public eye.”
Ms O’Toole says of Nóirín O’Sullivan’s tenure that she was recognised “internationally, as a progressive leader for police reform, but ultimately doomed by a series of scandals, many rooted in longstanding acts and decisions that she inherited with the position”.
She writes that the inspectorate team quickly observed “two glaring differences” between An Garda Síochána and other international police forces: A lack of civilian support staff at all levels, and “the risk of disproportionate emphasis on headquarters and specialised units, to the detriment of uninformed field operations”.
Other early observations included the “remarkable” lack of modern technology, and “serious, legitimate concerns relating to police officer safety”.
Regarding the inspectorate’s review of child sexual abuse, she says her team was “irked” by a joint statement issued by ministers Shatter and Fitzgerald in 2011 on the release of the Cloyne Report, stating it had been agreed that the inspectorate’s own report was to be delayed in light of the Cloyne findings.
“There was suspicion that Justice and Garda managers were purposely withholding the report, knowing that some of the findings would be embarrassing to the police and to government.”
By April 2012, six years into the job, “We were understaffed and morale was poor because Justice was delaying selection of inspectors and publication of reports. There was no direct interaction with the minister.”
Later, she writes: “While early ministers were vocal champions for reform, towards the end of my work it was clear there was no longer a sense of urgency in the Department of Justice. It seemed the economic crisis was referenced regularly as an excuse for inaction.”
