Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 September 2020
600. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice if the community policing forums will be re-established in central areas of Dublin; and if meetings of the forums will be supported to resume in a safe manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23857/20]
View answerWith regard to the south inner city, I am informed by the Garda authorities that there are two Community Policing Fora within Community Engagement, Pearse Street, however there are currently no scheduled upcoming meetings. The Community Safety Forum last met on 19th October 2019 and under pre-COVID circumstances a meeting would usually have been scheduled for early 2020, however this was unable to take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am further informed that a Community Policing Forum was held within Community Engagement, Donnybrook, in Irishtown on 4th September 2020, within a safe environment and in adherence to COVID-19 advises. Within Community Engagement, Kevin Street, Community Policing Fora took place via online platforms on two occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With regard to the north inner city, I understand that a Community Policing Forum (CPF) operated in the north inner city between 1999 and 2019, and that the Forum was funded through the Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force, but that that funding ceased in May 2019. A core element of the CPF operating model was that the community should have a role in identifying relevant issues and that an inter-agency approach should be adopted in resolving such issues.
The recent Covid-19 crisis has shown how proactive and collaborative community engagement by community services and An Garda Síochána can improve the condition of peoples’ lives. For example, since the onset of the Covid-19 restrictions, Gardaí attached to Store Street Garda Station have increased engagement with the more vulnerable members of society in the North East Inner City area of Dublin, through volunteer services, service providers and on an individual basis.
Building on the experience of the CPF, and as part of the implementation of the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, my Department is devising a policy on a whole-of-Government approach to community safety which aims to help foster local communities that are safer for families, residents and businesses and that feel more secure.
As part of the policy, plans are being advanced to develop a North Inner City Community Safety Pilot which would encompass the North Inner City Electoral Area. The pilot will establish a Community Safety Partnership, which will serve to prioritise issues identified by the community as safety concerns and develop proper strategic partnership approaches to a range of local issues, integrating service providers in order to holistically address community concerns.
Agencies and service providers across a range of areas will work with community representatives and Gardaí on community solutions to complex safety problems. Community representation will be reinforced and a partnership approach will be fostered and supported. It will also aim to increase community confidence in service providers and identify elements to improve the delivery of a national programme on community safety.
In addition, A Policing Service for our Future - the Government’s plan to implement the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland - envisages a review of the Joint Policing Committee structure in the context of reimagining the approach to engagement with local communities on policing issues. The objective is for community representatives to be centrally involved in a partnership approach to community safety. In the meantime, the Joint Policing Committees provided for under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 continue to operate, including in Dublin.
