Commissioner denies plans for rural closures

Date Published: 21-Jan-2010

THERE are no plans to close any rural Garda stations across County Galway, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has insisted.

Speaking at the launch of the new Garda community office in Ballybane in the city, Mr Murphy said he was a very strong advocate of the concept of community policing.

Developing close relationships with communities was essential to the work of the force. It was important for Gardai to be accessible and visible in neighbourhoods and provide feedback on local issues as well as enforcement.

The relationship between the Gardai and the community was the force’s greatest ally in preventing and detecting crime and ensuring the safety of people.

“Day to day policing is enhanced so much by community policing,” he told the gathering of local residents and community workers as well as councillors and local Gardai.

Mr Murphy told the Connacht Tribune there were no plans to close any rural Garda station despite the considerable speculation about achieving substantial savings by shutting down smaller stations.

“If necessary the savings proposed of €1m by An Bord Snip Nua, these savings can be found elsewhere. I want to ensure a strong Garda presence throughout the country, which is why it’s important to be here today opening this new community office.”

The new national model of community policing was launched last year to reinvigorate and restructure the community policing policy, which has resulted in schemes such as Neighbourhood Watch , Community Alert, Business Watch and Campus Watch .

The creation of joint policing committees has also allowed for better consultation by providing a formal forum for discussions on matters affecting policing.

The number of Gardai engaged in community policing is to be doubled to 1,200 to gain more intelligence about criminals through closer relationships with the public. Alongside greater community policy, Mr Murphy cited the establishment of the long-mooted

DNA database as a policing tool that would greatly assist criminal investigations.

The commissioner is under increasing pressure, with the latest CSO crime figures showing a 51 per cent increase in burglaries in 2009 compared with 2008.

For a complete report on the opening of the new Ballybane community office see page 26 of this week’s Connacht Tribune