When the former general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Antoinette Cunningham, disclosed last month that she had written to the Garda Commissioner, suggesting that retired gardaí might be invited back to work in order to ease personnel shortages, there was immediate interest from the news media.
It would be good if her initiative could open up a broader debate on how policing can be better resourced in the community.
But despite the constant citing of garda shortages, no response has been forthcoming from the Government, Garda Headquarters, the Department of Justice or the Policing and Community Safety Authority. It is true that most of official Ireland goes “off message” in August. But it would appear that this is a conversation that nobody is keen to have.
It is a pity. “Retire and rejoin” has long been a feature of policing elsewhere, including England and Wales. It is commonplace in the United States and Canada.
European countries including France, Italy and the Netherlands operate mechanisms through which retired officers will be called back as required. Germany operates a deferred retirement model under which officers can elect to serve on after retirement age with an annual renewable contract, subject to health and fitness.
In contrast, once gardaí reach retirement age, they are gone, their experience and skills lost to the State and the community. Many, of course, are glad to go. But time and again one hears the frustrations of fit, healthy men and women who would happily serve further, rather than working on their golf handicap or taking their skills to the private sector.
Yet the need for enhanced policing resources has never been greater or more evident. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has prioritised uniformed visibility so that more gardaí, often in pairs or in threes, are patrolling on foot in the streets or assigned to “special posts” in busy public locations. It requires enormous payments of overtime to achieve this. Notwithstanding, violence continues to rise.
The strength of An Garda Síochána is now more than 14,500 sworn officers with a further 3,500 unsworn, support staff (sometimes referred to misleadingly as “civilians” – since gardaí are also civilians.) But in 20 years the force’s strength has increased only by 11 per cent while the population of the State has increased by more than 30 per cent over the same period.
Meanwhile, the work to be done by gardaí has become much more complex, time-consuming and process-driven. A trivial incident outside a pub that might once have merited a line or two in the “occurrence book” can now involve hours of paperwork or screen time. A family disturbance, a minor traffic crash or a heated argument between neighbours can involve hours of desk-work and days or even weeks of engagement with witnesses, victims, suspected people or other State agencies. It is not uncommon to find four or five officers tapping away on keyboards or staring at screens in the station, while not a single garda patrols the streets of the town.
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Increasing complexity is not a phenomenon of police work alone. Health professionals, teachers, social workers and others have become prisoners of the imperative to record, track, trace, report and classify, covering institutional backsides against complaint or claim. Yet one wonders at some of it. Why should gardaí be spending valuable time checking tax, insurance and NCT disks, when technology has long been available to do this? Motorists elsewhere do not have to stick bits of paper inside their windscreens and police officers do not have to spend time looking for them.
The idea of bringing retired gardaí voluntarily back to work is, however, only part of the wider question of policing resources. It is a truism that there will never be enough police around to satisfy everyone. If there was a guard at every street corner, some people would argue there should be two. But other societies have long addressed this issue by extending responsibility for policing into the wider community in ways that we have steadfastly refused to do here.
Villages and towns in England and Wales have their “special constables”, citizens who put on a uniform and voluntarily give a number of hours to policing their neighbourhood every month. They receive basic police training and while on duty have full policing powers, including power of arrest. They are provided with uniforms and equipment, including radios and digital devices that connect them to the regular, full-time police.
Many mainland European countries do the same. French tourist resorts will be patrolled by police auxiliaires, especially in high season. Many US cities have their volunteer police departments with local communities often funding vehicles and equipment. Volunteers will have access to radio and digital informational systems, integrated with the regular police and to call them in when required.
Michael McDowell’s An Garda Síochána Act 2005 provided for the establishment of a Garda Reserve. But no minister since has taken it seriously. It is a myth, a token, currently with fewer than 300 members, mainly discharging office duties and only occasionally venturing on to the streets with full-time officers. Various reasons will be given for the reluctance to develop the reserve – from “national security”, to opposition from the staff associations, to an assertion that looking after reservists simply distracts gardaí from doing their own job.
Less than 10% of planned intake recruited for Garda Reserve last year
The demand for policing services will grow exponentially as the population increases. Policing will have to be smarter, more responsive and better supported in technology and equipment. But above all it will require people who are committed to the wellbeing of the community.
As a society we have a reputation for supportiveness and for volunteerism. We even have a word for it – meitheal. We have volunteer lifeboat crews, ambulance services, coast guards, sports managers and coaches, health and welfare support groups. There is no reason why these values should not find expression in securing the safety of the community. The politicians should exercise a bit of imagination and take the lead, starting by taking up Cunningham’s suggestion.
Conor Brady is a former editor of The Irish Times. He served on the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.