Gardaí resort to buying their own surveillance and protective equipment
Morale Is File Impacting Picture Garda The In In Force The Shortage Numbers
Gardaí are buying their own surveillance equipment, such as binoculars, and protective equipment, including slash-proof gloves, to avoid getting injured on duty because sourcing any through the State is too onerous.
After multiple gardaí were needled in the course of their work, the procurement office still did not provide needle-proof gloves for gardaí to wear to protect their hands during searches, sources say.
The shortage in Garda numbers is also impacting morale in the force and restricting gardaí’s ability to fight and prevent crime.
Local criminals could easily locate themselves in such an area without much Garda cover to evade arrest, one Garda source said.
Another garda said: “The chances of a drug dealer getting caught in many areas is so slim [due to the lack of gardaí] it’s worth the risk to them.”
A dangerous deficit in Garda numbers is now the biggest threat to public safety in the State, with every Garda unit seriously depleted, former assistant Garda commissioner Michael O’Sullivan said.
Cities are less safe because there are not enough gardaí to put on the beat, said Mr O’Sullivan, who has been a key figure in fighting organised crime in Ireland.
“And that has a knock-on effect on response times. If you don’t have the crews you don’t have the cars to respond quickly when someone dials 999.
“Not enough gardaí are investigating serious crime because we can’t recruit enough.”
Frustration within the force is currently so high that gardaí coming close to retirement are now buying their way out so they can retire early, Mr O’Sullivan said.
“That was unheard of before," he said.
“Morale is a growing problem. Gardaí are disillusioned and fed up.”
Mr O’Sullivan said it is vital that authorities get to the root cause of why people are leaving, and fix it. He also said that the job must be made more attractive to entice people to join and ensure that less people leave early.
Personnel can be particularly slow to be appointed to drugs units because there are no direct injured parties, although much of the crime in Ireland stems from drugs and drug use, one Garda source said.
“There are no injured parties in drugs. If there’s a burglary the victim will be onto the Garda station; resources will be pumped into the crime office to help the victim and keep them happy. But there’s no one from the public making noise about this.”
Yet problems with drug-related intimidation, such as broken windows, petrol bombs, assaults, and threats have been growing across the country and stem directly from drug use, as do many robberies as people look for money to pay back debt or feed their habit.
“All crime seems to be drug-related; drugs are at the centre of the spiral, but because there’s no injured party, they’re not getting the resources,” a Garda source said.
Basic equipment should also be more readily available to gardaí, one source said.
Although gardaí must sometimes spend weeks in wet and dirty conditions outside during surveillance operations they are only entitled to one set of waterproof surveillance clothing, even though it will inevitably get wet and need replacement.
Most gardaí will stock their own ‘grab bag’ for surveillance work, with kit such as binoculars that they source themselves rather than through the State. State equipment is often not fit for purpose and is too onerous and difficult to obtain, one Garda source said.
Ireland currently has 14,146 gardaí and some 343 recruits are training at the Garda College.
A Government target of 15,000 gardaí has been set but Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said the force actually needs to grow to 18,000 to effectively police an expanding population.
The Garda press office was contacted for comment.