Last night's brutal mob killing of a suspected drug dealer by a vigilante group provides an imperative for the Government and the Garda to put in place measures which will respond effectively and relevantly to the noted growth of vigilantism, particularly anti-drug vigilantism. People looking to such groups for assistance or protection in the face of a drugs crisis just change one tyranny for another.
It is important there is no ambivalence on the State's part regarding this type of activity. All democrats must unequivocally condemn people taking the law into their own hands. Concerned communities need leadership from their elected representatives on this issue. However, condemnation alone is not sufficient. Such activities are born from a well known collapse of confidence in many communities which feel the authorities do not respond with any urgency or relevance to the criminality related to drugs which is destroying the fabric of their lives and those of their children. Unfortunately, this type of uncivilised barbaric behaviour has taken hold in Northern Ireland. Such barbarism has been wrongly justified by paramilitaries in their claim that the RUC does not have the confidence of the community.
Any ambivalence by the authorities in the face of such vigilantism is extremely dangerous. The emergence of vigilante groups is a fact of life which demands a positive response from the Minister and the Garda. The Government has shown a persistent failure to inject any real sense of urgency to the drugs crisis at community level. Legislation alone is not sufficient; it is clear a change in policing is needed in areas most devastated by drugs. These areas are well known to the Garda and yet community or preventative policing is still largely undeveloped and unfocused.
The justice system needs to be turned around to meet the critical nature of the drugs problem in all our cities. This includes the provision of treatment facilities to meet the needs of addicts; a person who seeks treatment for drug addiction should not be put on a waiting list. It is reckless of the State, for example, to continue to allow bail to drug addicts when they have no visible means of supporting their habit, without an offer of treatment for their addiction.
A real debate on how, and where, we police is required. This is not possible at present because of the democratic deficit which means that the deployment of gardaí and resources are constantly deferred to the Garda Commissioner as an operational matter for which there is no accountability to Dáil Éireann. Due to the BSE crisis up to 300 gardaí have been deployed to the Border areas, while 400 gardaí are permanently desk bound, doing clerical and administrative duties which could more probably be done by civilians.
We must heed the warning signs of a breakdown in law and order represented by last night's murder by vigilantes. This involves a major refocusing of resources towards specialist community policing. At present, the number of gardaí allocated to community or preventative policing constitutes a mere token gesture, a genuflection towards any real response to the growing demands for community policing. It is right and vital that the justice system and policing includes communities, but the authorities alone must bring people to justice.
Spending on the Garda in 1996 will rise by £13 million, while spending on prisons has risen by 50 per cent in the past five years. Yet, there is a chaotic prison service, reports on which are unpublishable. The total spend on the security forces, Garda, prisons and courts, is £600 million a year; the figure has increased by almost £200 million in the past five years. Given this massive amount of expenditure, citizens have a right to expect minimum levels of protection from the Garda and the authorities generally.
Despite tinkering at the edges, the Government has failed to introduce any change to the law of bail or inject any confidence among citizens that the State can and will provide effective law and order. Many contract killings, an issue raised in the House recently, are unsolved and this sends a dangerous signal that thieves falling out warrant no real investigation.
Such a dangerous acquiescence or ambivalence is not acceptable. Neither is silence from the Minister and other democrats on the repugnant attack by a 20 strong mob armed with baseball bats and iron bars on a person whom they suspected of being a drug dealer.
