James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. 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 being rolled out throughout the country and has been fully commenced in 13 Garda divisions. The new model will provide more front-line gardaí and increased Garda visibility and will deliver 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 the most important being community engagement. This will allow for a greater, more consistent focus on community policing in all divisions.

The Garda authorities have advised me that a member of An Garda Síochána can be deemed to be a community garda where that person has been allocated to a community policing team, CPT, 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. Examples of this engagement are working with neighbourhood watch, community alert or local business forums.

Community policing teams strategically manage and lead the development, delivery and evaluation of the Garda community policing framework. Like most Garda members, those assigned to CPTs have dual functions. In addition to their strategic roles in their community policing teams, part of which requires them to regularly update their community engagement superintendent on the policing needs of their community, they are also front-line members. Moreover, CPTs draw on all front-line gardaí to carry out community policing.

I very much welcome the new interactive map launched recently on the Garda website, which is designed to allow the public to identify the local CPT in their area. This map will continue to develop in line with the continued roll-out of the new Garda operating model.

Budget 2024 provides over €2.35 billion to An Garda Síochána. As of 31 March 2024, 384 community gardaí had been assigned in the DMR region. This represents an increase of more than 35% since the end of December 2023, when 284 community gardaí had been assigned. The figure of 384 is out of an overall figure of 707 community gardaí in the country.

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