Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2019
280. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of core unit gardaí of each rank attached to the Anglesea Street Garda station who are only attached to the sub-district for the area and are not responsible for other duties in the district as a whole; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16726/19]
View answer281. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of community gardaí attached to the Anglesea Street sub-district. [16727/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 280 and 281 together.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution under review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities to ensure optimum use is made of the resources. I am informed by the Commissioner that with regard to the deployment of Garda personnel, a distribution model is used which takes into account all relevant factors including population, crime trends and the policing needs of each individual Garda Division. It is the responsibility of the Divisional Officer to allocate personnel within his/her Division.
All Garda members assigned to a Division are available to the Divisional Officer for operational duties if required. In addition, as the Deputy will appreciate, in order to deliver an effective policing service, it is essential that Garda management have the flexibility to deploy Garda resources to meet operational policing needs and address critical issues as they arise. For this reason, the number of Gardaí available in any one Garda station on a particular day is subject to the operational requirements of the overall Division.
Community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána as it recognises that every community, either urban or rural, has its own concerns and expectations. The role of a community Garda is not a specialist role in An Garda Síochána; rather it is the case that all Gardaí have a role to play in community policing while carrying out their duties. The official categorisation of Community Garda simply refers to those who are exclusively assigned to building relationships with local communities and civil society including giving talks to schools, community groups and others. It is a matter for the Divisional Chief Superintendent to determine the optimum distribution of duties among the personnel available to him or her having regard to the profile of the area and its specific needs.
The Garda strength by rank of the Cork City Division, including Anglesea Street Station, from 2009 to 28 February 2019 as provided by the Garda Commissioner is available on my Department’s website through the following link.
The information in relation to the Community Garda Strength in Anglesea Street Garda Station as on 28 February 2019, the latest date for which figures are currently available, as supplied by the Garda Commissioner are as set out in the attached table.
For more general information on Garda Facts and Figures please see the link below:
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures
Garda Strength Presented – Community
|
Station |
Anglesea Street |
|
|
Year |
Community Gardaí |
Total |
|
2019* |
5 |
310 |
*As of 28 February 2019
Total: means all those Gardaí at a station all of whom have community policing as an inherent part of their role.
Community Gardaí: are those with the official categorisation and are exclusively assigned to building relationships with local communities including giving talks to schools, community groups and others.
