James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána and all gardaí have a role to play in community policing in the course of carrying out their duties. Community policing is also fundamental to the new Garda operating model that is currently being rolled out in all divisions and has been fully commenced in ten. The new model will provide more front-line gardaí, increased Garda visibility and a wider range of policing services for people in their local area. It will divide service delivery within divisions into four functional areas, one of them being community engagement. This will allow for a greater focus on community policing in all divisions. Garda authorities have advised that a member of An Garda Síochána can be deemed to be a community garda where that member is allocated to a community policing team and is responsible and accountable for applying a problem-solving approach to appropriate crime and policing quality-of-life issues in a specified geographic area through partnership and engagement.

An Garda Síochána has launched a new interactive map on the Garda website that allows people to find the local CPT in their area. The map will continue to be developed in line with the continued roll-out of the new Garda operating model. While there are designated CPTs within An Garda Síochána, it is important to note that the number of gardaí assigned to those teams is not an accurate reflection of the number of gardaí carrying out community policing work on a daily basis around the country. Community policing teams strategically manage and lead the development, delivery and evaluation of the Garda community policing framework, and gardaí assigned to those teams are deemed to be community gardaí.

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