Galway’s Garda chief makes war on drugs his top focus for year ahead

MORE Garda resources will be directed to the growing problem of illegal drugs sales and movements across Galway city and county, according to Garda Chief Superintendent, Tom Curley.

Chief Supt. Curley told the Connacht Tribune that given the scale of drugs seizures across the county – and the increasing number of ‘drugs driving’ cases – the extent of the problem should not be under-estimated.

“We work very closely with our national units and other state agencies, but I do believe that we [An Garda Siochána] will need to put even more resources into this aspect of policing.

“Of course, this is not just a Garda issue – it’s a far bigger problem for society at large. Only for the demand is there for illegal drugs, then the criminal gangs simply wouldn’t have the ready market available to them for the sale of those substances,” said Tom Curley.

He also pointed out that there were increasing concerns about the numbers of drivers who were testing positive for drugs – mostly cannabis and cocaine – which obviously had major implications for safety on the roads.

“We’ve had a lot of successes in terms of drugs seizures and also in relation in operation conducted with CAB (Criminal Assets Bureau) with our Divisional Drugs Unit very active over the past year, but it’s an ongoing battle,” he added.

Chief Supt Curley said that while the drugs market was being driven by younger people there was also now a demand for cocaine across a broader spectrum of people including usage in private settings where detection would be far more difficult.

As well as the issue with drugs driving, Gardaí he said also had major concerns over the ‘hardy annuals’ in relation to road safety such as drink driving, speeding, mobile phone use and the non-wearing of seatbelts.

“At the end of the day, almost every accident that occurs on our roads is preventable, but yet day-on-day, we see people who drink and drive; who speed excessively; who take risks with dangerous overtaking manoeuvres; who don’t wear their seatbelts and who are on their mobiles while at the wheel.

“These are all in breach of what I would describe as the absolute basics for safety on the road. We have come across drivers with iPads or tablets on their steering wheels as they drive along – it really does defy all logic and common-sense,” said Tom Curley.

He warned that road accidents with horrendous consequences can happen in the blink of an eye with a driver’s full attention needing to be on the road at all times.

For almost two years, the work of Gardaí has been pretty much dominated by Covid with members of the force involved in a lot of frontline work.

“We had very serious concerns about maintaining personnel levels if a lot of our members had gone down with Covid but thankfully this hasn’t happened – however, the pandemic has presented a lot of practical difficulties for us,” he said.

The Chief Superintendent said that in terms of property crimes such as thefts and burglaries there had been a notable decrease in those during Covid, with more people working from home, meaning that there were less opportunities for thieves to strike at unoccupied locations.

“On the other side of that coin though, there has been an increase in the incidence rate of domestic violence since the start of Covid.

“We have a specialist protective services unit in place while all members of the Gardaí are also acutely aware of the importance of responding to domestic violence situations.

“If you are the victim of domestic violence – or if you have worries about someone who could be in a vulnerable situation – my advice is to make that call to the Gardaí who will check out such reports thoroughly,” he said.

Another major concern, he said, for Gardaí was the number of people who were duped out of money in cybercrime operations where victims ended up giving their private banking details to gangs who had given the impression that they were from legitimate financial institutions.

“I cannot emphasise this enough: never, ever give out your private banking details in reply to a text message. Your bank will never look for that kind of information from you but unfortunately people are still being scammed on a regular basis,” he said.

Another area of concern, he added, for Gardaí was in relation to public order issues and especially in the larger urban settings where members were reporting increasing instances of abusive behaviour from people on the street – often alcohol fuelled and late at night.

“We know that we have to earn the respect of people with our actions and responses but there definitely have been more incidences of abuse being directed towards Gardaí in recent times.

“Having said that, I would also like to put on record, that the vast majority of the general public have been most supportive of Gardaí – their co-operation and positivity towards us, has been very encouraging.

“Like everyone else, we in the Gardaí are looking forward – hopefully – to a better year in 2022 in terms of issues with Covid-19, and we must all be guided by the public health advice.

“It is also encouraging to see that a very active campaign for new Garda recruits will get underway in 2022, and like any organisation, we need younger people and fresh blood coming into our ranks,” said Chief Supt. Curley.