Front-line Gardaí are calling for changes.
In an open letter on the Garda Representative Association website, there has been a call for reform in the Gardaí across the country, with calls for the reform to be influenced by feedback from Gardaí on the front lines.
Specifically, there is concern that Garda forces are being asked to implement changes, but without any updating of their services, especially in parts of the country where updates are badly required.
In the statement, the level of disrepair Garda stations in places like Clonmel, Newcastle West, Sligo, and Macroom was referenced, with those stations described as unsafe and unfit to work in.
The open letter can be read in full here, or below:
“The headline message from today’s Policing Authority report on the Garda Siochana is that reform of the force must be informed by the experience of front-line Gardaí. The report correctly identifies an appetite for modernisation among Gardaí and our members are very much open to new approaches in areas such as ICT, civilianisation,
human rights and social representation.
“We have been saying for some time that greater expenditure is needed in areas such as communications technology, training and equipment. Gardaí can’t be expected to implement change if they are not resourced and equipped to do so.
“For instance, Garda stations in places like Clonmel, Newcastle West, Sligo, and Macroom are simply unsafe places to work such is their state of disrepair. The Policing Authority report also highlights the need for a best-practice approach to managing change – and, just like any organisation, that includes respecting the day-today, professional experience of frontline workers.
“Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has published an implementation plan for all 157 recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing which is consistent with a best-practice approach. But it can only bring about the change in policing the Irish public demand, if the same professional standard is applied to implementation.
“We are embarking a number of years of intense engagement with Garda management with a view to implementing the recommended changes in a spirit of partnership and positivity. But a top-down approach that ignores grass-roots experience, or a political approach that is all talk and no resources, will scupper everyone’s chances of delivering a world class police force fit for purpose in a fast-changing society.”
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