Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One can never over-emphasise the importance of the partnership between An Garda Síochána and the community in continuing to prevent and detect crime and maintaining a safe environment for everyone. The role of our police force is of vital importance to us as a civilised society. The Garda Síochána Inspectorate report Policing in Ireland states that "community policing should be at the heart of policing in Ireland". Community policing is a term used to describe the process by which the police engage with the community in the prevention of crime. At its core is the recognition that by working with the community in voluntary organisations such as community alert and neighbourhood watch schemes, law enforcement agencies can find local solutions to local problems. Community policing provides people in an area with their own dedicated garda. International studies have shown that community policing has many benefits. It helps develop a positive attitude towards police, it reduces crime rates and fear of crime and it discourages anti-social behaviour. As a result of both parties working together towards shared goals, the flow of information between the police and the community is enhanced, which results in better implementation of crime prevention and crime control.

The dedicated community garda provides a reduction in fear of crime, peace of mind and a feeling of safety and security for the community at large. In rural communities particularly, the local garda builds a strong and supportive relationship with young and old in the community. The role of the local garda in the community alert group, where the community and the garda join forces in being vigilant in their concern for the elderly in particular, is of huge importance. In recent times, the additional dimension of the text alert scheme has proven to be of enormous benefit in detecting and preventing crime.

Former Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has said that it is essential that the community remain at the heart of everything An Garda Síochána does. He believed the community to be the Garda's greatest ally in preventing and detecting crime and protecting the safety of the people they serve. However, the decision of the subsequent Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, to close 139 Garda stations nationwide was in direct contradiction of this belief. That was a very retrograde step for policing in Ireland, and one that will have serious repercussions in future years. These stations were closed largely as a cost-saving exercise, but we subsequently learned that it costs only €60 per week to keep a rural Garda station open and that it is costing the OPW more to have them closed than when they were operational. We know that the closure of 550 rural police stations in 13 counties in England over a ten-year period led to a rise in crime, and rural crime rose by 60% compared with 35% for the country as a whole. The rise in crime was directly linked to the closure of the police stations in those areas. In January of this year, CSO figures showed a rise in rural crime here in Ireland, yet there is still no plan to reopen the stations closed in 2013.

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It is vital that we recognise the huge value of the dedicated garda in our small communities. It is here that the potential for much criminality can incubate in the absence of effective policing. The rural stations act as a filter for crime, nipping petty crime in the bud before it escalates to a more serious level. We must remember that the raging forest fire started with a single match.

The role of the Garda needs to be considered as a matter of urgency. It is paramount that the Garda Síochána is seen as a force to protect the innocent and vulnerable against all kinds of crime, rather than a force to generate revenue in the form of summonses and fines. Using the Garda Síochána as a revenue-generating source is a very foolish and short-sighted approach to policing, which will inevitably lead to a them-and-us situation. We want at all times to ensure that the public sees the Garda Síochána as a strong and effective force, completely on the side of the law-abiding citizens whom it is their role to protect and support. Based on all the evidence to support the importance of community policing and the role of the community garda, I urge the Minister to give serious consideration to reopening all rural Garda stations.

In respect of Garda cars, the average Garda car in larger stations clocks up approximately 50,000 km per year. When the car reaches 300,000 km it is taken off the road. These cars would be approximately five or six years old. I would suggest that when a Garda car has 250,000 km on the clock, it should be given to the smaller stations, where it would do in the region of 5,000 to 10,000 km per year and would last a number of years in the station. These cars could then be used by the gardaí in these rural stations.

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