Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 June 2023
245. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the action in conjunction with the Garda Commissioner she will take to increase the number of community policing officers in this division within the context of the next two passing out parades from the Garda Training college in Templemore; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29027/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the management of An Garda Síochána, including the distribution of Garda members between the different Garda units and Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
The Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda Síochána is central to this policy. Funding has been provided for up to 1,000 new Gardaí this year and we are seeing more Garda recruits enter Templemore every 11 weeks.
I can inform the Deputy that at end April 2023, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 625 Garda members and 63 Garda staff assigned to the DMR North Central Division. This represents respective increases of 6% and 66% since end of 2015. As of the same date there were 35 Community Gardaí assigned to the Division.
In addition, since the reopening of the Garda college in September 2014 a total of 317 probationer Gardaí have been assigned to the Division.
Community policing is fundamental to the new Garda Operating Model recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and currently being rolled out under 'A Policing Service for Our Future', the Government's implementation plan for the Commission's recommendations.
The new Operating Model is currently being rolled out in all divisions and is fully commenced in six - Dublin South Central, Cork City, Kerry, Galway, Limerick and Mayo-Roscommon-Longford. For these divisions it means:
• Districts replaced with Community Engagement Functional Areas,
• Crime Functional Area established in each Division,
• All personnel aligned to a Functional Area, and
• Garda Stations aligned to Community Engagement Functional Areas.
I am advised by the Garda authorities 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 (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. In some rural areas, the existing personnel will form Community Policing Teams (CPTs). They will have dual functions as first responders and community policing members. Additionally, CPTs will be augmented by Community Support Gardaí who will perform front-line duties and will be assigned a particular CPA to support a dedicated Community Garda.
I am informed that each Division will have a number of Community Policing Teams (CPTs) assigned to it, consisting of an Inspector, Sergeant, Community Policing Gardaí. CPTs will prioritise engagement with communities for the delivery of long-term sustainable solutions to community needs.
I want to emphasise that community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána, and that all Gardaí have a role to play in community policing in the course of carrying out their duties.
However, community safety is not just about the number of Gardaí in communities. Community safety is a whole of Government responsibility and it requires a multi-agency approach.
The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will place statutory obligations on Departments and other public service bodies to cooperate with each other to improve community safety. It also establishes national structures to provide strategic direction and ensure that collaboration is working, and establishes Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs), which will replace existing Joint Policing Committees.
There are currently three pilot LCSPs in Dublin’s North Inner City, Waterford, and Longford. The partnerships are made up of:
• community representatives, including residents, youth representatives, members of new and minority communities, local activists, local businesses, and representatives of schools;
• public sector representatives, i.e., local statutory services such as the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána, and the local authority; and
• local councillors.
Each partnership will create its own local community safety plan, setting out the key actions to address safety concerns in their respective communities and assigning ownership for these actions. The first such plan has been produced by the Longford LCSP pilot and is available on the Longford County Council website. I was pleased to see the launch the Waterford Community Safety Plan 2023-2028 in March.
The pilot LCSPs are undergoing an ongoing independent evaluation to ensure that, when established nationally, the LCSPs will be designed and supported to help communities prioritise issues raised by its members as safety concerns.
The mid-term evaluation was received by my Department in April 2023. Ultimately the report finds its results are consistent with learnings from elsewhere, and that they reaffirm the importance of the partnerships’ work.
It concludes by emphasising that the current crucial components, at the national level, are vision, leadership and the setting up of the national structures and processes for implementation of the roll-out. I intend for it to be published in the coming weeks.
A final evaluation report of the LCSP pilot is expected by the end of 2023, ahead of their nationwide roll-out as part of the implementation of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.
