Report highlights 'inconsistent, non-empathetic' Garda response to drug-related intimidation

Aoife’s story starts when the family home was broken into by a group of males saying her son owed them €1,000. Her sister gave Aoife's son money to pay the bill, but he just used it to purchase more drugs.

A few weeks later, a different group of males smashed the windows of Aoife's house and demanded €8,000.

“Over time, Aoife and her home have become a regular target for drug-related intimidation,” the report said.

The mother called 999 on multiple occasions but didn't feel she got “any appropriate empathy or assistance”.

The report said: “This includes an incident when she returned home to find her windows broken. 

While the 999 call operator told her to wait outside for gardaí to arrive, a garda member who attended was dismissive on arrival and said ‘they’re hardly still in there’. 

It said that, on another occasion, Aoife and her younger son, aged six, were asleep during the night when her car was damaged and all the windows in her house were broken.

“Aoife said they were both petrified, and as they could not remain in the house and had no way to leave due to her car being damaged, Aoife asked the garda members present if somebody could stay with them until they contacted family or friends for support,” the report said. 

“Despite at least four members being present, Aoife said her request was refused and she was left on the road outside her home feeling scared, vulnerable and unsupported.” 

Her bad experience didn’t end there: “Aoife has engaged with multiple garda members and each time she has to explain the history of her intimidation and the advice she receives is inconsistent, non-empathetic and in some cases inaccurate.” 

The inspectorate said that as a result of her experience, Aoife will only engage with senior garda members as she believes that most garda members don’t have the ability to address complex situations like hers.

It said:

Complicating the picture — and demonstrating how people can be both victims and perpetrators of crime — the report said users owing debt can be forced to intimidate other users who owe money and that the same can happen to drug dealers who owe money further up the supply chain.

The report said that while many serious incidents are brought to the attention of gardaí few people are willing to make a formal complaint.

Gardaí are now taking part in a relatively new multi-agency drug-related intimidation project called DRIVE, which aims to accurately document the scale and nature of the problem and the supports and services needed to provide a better response.

The report said the impact of drugs on communities extends beyond intimidation, to the open use of drugs in public areas, the sale of drugs, the use of properties in areas to operate and the associated public order and anti-social behaviour issues.

It makes people “feel unsafe” in their own community, with some people living like “prisoners in their own homes” and afraid to go to their local shop.

The inspectorate welcomes the establishment of new Local Community Safety Partnerships and the related provisions in the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act legally obliging other departments and public agencies to work with gardaí on community safety.

The report said that drug units in local divisions said that they “do not have the right level of resources or equipment to completely dismantle” gangs in their area.

The inspectorate praised the work of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, but noted it did not have its own cybercrime or financial investigation teams.

It also examined the Garda policing intelligence system. While complementary on aspects of it, it was critical of delays in introducing a national criminal intelligence model.

It noted “frustration expressed by numerous investigators” that they were not getting all intelligence relating to their investigations, such as raw audio recordings from surveillance.

The inspectorate even questioned whether all intelligence received from international agencies relating to threats to life “was actioned”, saying it could not get access to the intelligence.

It called on the new Independent Examiner to investigate the matter.

As reported on Tuesday, the inspectorate also highlighted a range of gaps in combatting organised crime:

• allowing informants engage in crime as part of efforts to dismantle a gang;
• empowering gardaí to work undercover inside gangs;
• bringing in long called for legal powers so gardaí can access encrypted communications;
• introducing laws on “integrity testing” — allowing anti-corruption investigators put a public official (including a garda) in a potentially compromising position to test their conduct.

The report highlighted concerns from gardaí with CHIS (covert human intelligence source), saying the approval process was too slow and that people involved in crime were excluded.

The inspectorate described as "concerning" the practice of investigators managing informants themselves, outside CHIS, saying this posed “serious risks” to public confidence and safety of prosecutions.

The inspectorate stressed that despite all the successes of gardaí in combating drug gangs, including huge seizures and arrests, that it has made “little impact” on the daily lives of those living in the most affected communities.

This touches on an issue far beyond the gardaí and is something that has been examined in detail by the Citizens Assembly on Drugs, which reported last January, and a subsequent special Oireachtas committee.

Aside from legal reforms on drug possession, these bodies urge a whole-of-government response, high-level political priority, partnership with communities and massive investment in disadvantaged areas.

The next government has the task of digesting the findings of these three bodies — and acting on them.