Meeting hears claims gardai lacking 'drive and initiative' in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour

A public meeting in Navan last night heard claims that Gardai locally were lacking 'morale, drive and initiative' with poor response times to calls from the public and calls being transferred to a national call centre.

At the meeting in Navan's Newgrange Hotel local business owners and residents voiced their concerns over the lack of resources countywide with many fearing the role of the local garda and community policing was being lost.

The meeting was organised by Sinn Fein deputies Johnny Guirke and Darren O'Rourke with the party's spokesperson on Justice, Martin Kenny also in attendance and was primarily convened to raise the issue of Garda numbers - Meath has the lowest number of Garda per capita in the country - against the backdrop of anti-social behaviour and criminal activity in Navan and towns around the county.

An Garda Siochana's own figures for 2002 shows 316 sworn members policing a population of 220,000.

Previous years stats show the county had 320 members in 2021; 335 for 2020 and 319 for 2019.

in 2021, Kildare, with a population of 247,000 people had a Garda force of 422 while Louth with a population of 89,000 had a a Garda strength numbering 392.

Deputy Guirke said: "The main objective of the meeting is to find solutions to the anti-social behaviour occurring across the county, so that people can feel secure walking to the shops and back."

"We understand that our gardai are overworked and under resourced in the county, and we continue to have the lowest Garda numbers per head of population in the State." Deputy Guirke said there was one garda for every 696 people in the county.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke said the Gardai were not recruiting to meet demand and through resignations and retirements this was resulting in a net reduction in the number of gardai.

He pointed to his own Meath East area and the Ashbourne Garda districts which he said runs from the "Kildare border to the Irish sea, with Ratoath the largest town in Ireland without its own designated Garda station. So you have very serious population growth but the resources were never there to match it." He said that while there were plans for investment in the Garda station at Laytown, "there was no indicative timeline of when that would happen."

Deputy Martin Kenny said the fallout from the low number of gardai serving Meath was "going to have an impact on communities and how people go about and live their lives".

"In every town, we know local businesses need footfall and if we have a big problem with crime or anti-social behaviour, that is going to have a big impact."

Contributors from the floor said one of the biggest frustrations appeared to be the slowness of response times to calls about anti-social behaviour and criminal activity and how crimes were often being committed by people even after reports had been made to Navan Garda station.

Deputies Darren O'Rourke, Martin Kenny and Johnny Guirke at the public meeting discussing Garda resources for Meath on Thursday night.

Another man said he had called Navan Garda station four times in the one day this week to report an incident of men fighting in the town without getting through. "As a business owner and as a resident, I understand there is an issue with resources and manpower, but to me it seems like there is a lack of morale, a lack of drive or initiative."

While An Garda Siochana were invited to attend and contribute to the meeting, Deputy Guirke was informed by a Garda spokesperson via email that the forum for formal discussion of local policing matters in the Division is the Meath Joint Policing Committee, which comprises An Garda Síochána, the local authority, elected members of the County Council, members of the Oireachtas and community representatives. "The Committee meets on a regular basis and also holds occasional meetings in public, where questions can be put forward by any person".

"In respect of Garda resources, it is not disputed that Meath Garda Division currently has depleted resources. The current strength of the Division comprises 316 sworn members and 50 Garda staff. The matter has been highlighted to senior Garda management at regional level and it is hoped that during 2023 additional resources will be allocated to the Division, particularly as new trainees are released from the Garda College."

"Gardaí in Meath have a strong community engagement ethos and enjoy a high level of public support, for which we are grateful. Gardaí engage with a wide variety of community groups such a residents associations and are always available to give crime prevention advice. There are dedicated community policing personnel in each District in the Division. They perform a wide variety of duties including visiting the elderly and vulnerable, giving talks in local primary and secondary schools and liaising with residents associations, businesses and community groups. Our Divisional Facebook account – Meath Crime Prevention - has over 45,000 followers and is a great forum to connect with the public and to share information.

"Anti-social behaviour continues to be a matter of concern, particularly in the larger towns in the evening and night time. Such behaviour in communities causes distress and annoyance to people and we actively tackle this matter through targeted patrols and by working with youth projects to divert young people away from such behaviour. Provisional statistics for 2022 show that there were 253 Public Order Offences detected in Meath, which is a decrease of 14 per cent on the previous year.

"I would also like to advise that a new extension at Navan Garda Station, comprising a custody block and office space, is expected to become operational in the next few weeks. This will benefit local operational policing in Navan as persons arrested will no longer need to be transported to Garda Stations in Kells, Trim and Ashbourne, which was necessary during the construction phase.

"Finally, we would like thank the public for their continued support and remind people that if they witness a crime or any suspicious activity they should contact Gardaí immediately on 999 or 112. Information can also be given in confidence via the Garda Confidential Line 1800-666111.

The meeting concluded with the Deputy Guirke saying they would be seeking a meeting with Justice Minister Simon Harris to discuss the resourcing of Gardai in Meath.

UPDATE:

Navan Garda station is one of the pilot stations selected for “CAD2” – which is an update on it's CAD system (CAD=Computer Aided Dispatch).

Responding to additional queries made by Meath Chronicle, Inspector Ronan Farrelly told us: "Under CAD2, all calls that require a Garda unit to be dispatched will be processed and entered at the relevant Regional Control Room. This will be the case nationally and it should help ensure that calls are processed correctly by trained staff and data quality will be assured.

"So, in essence you can ring 999 or 112 for urgent emergency matters. For other matters, non-urgent, when you ring a Garda Station you will be transferred to the Regional Control Room if a response is required. I accept that this might have confused some people.

"Regarding the point made that members might be “lacking in 'interest or drive or initiative' in tackling crime or anti-social behaviour” I would not accept that. We have had some great work done bringing offenders before the courts and getting bail conditions set and this has had a positive effect in many cases. We also have had some good successes this week and last week with persons charged regarding four burglaries in Navan town centre.

"At times, resources are tight and this can impact on response times. If there is a significant delay in responding it is invariably because of the number of calls being dealt with and no reflection on the interest or drive of members. Our Community Policing Team in Navan is slightly depleted with three members allocated, but there is currently an internal completion for a Sergeant to be assigned in charge of the unit and hopefully the strength of the unit can be increased as additional resources are allocated to Navan.